Elijah Hughes – Syracuse SF

After a quite disappointing 2018-19 season the Orange are looking to bounce back with new guys filling new roles and a supposive “new offense” according to Head Coach Jim Boeheim. For starters, ‘Cuse will lose guards Frank Howard and Tyus Battle along with big man Paschal Chukwu. They will also bring in a big freshman class consisting of Joe Girard, Quincy Guerrier, Brycen Goodine and John Bol Ajak. I would say the projected starters are PG Jalen Carey, SG Buddy Boeheim, SF Eli Hughes, PF Oshae Brissett, and C Marek Dolezaj. With more depth this year I really do think the team can do some damage if Brissett decides to stay, as opposed to going to the NBA next season. ‘Cuse will lack that pure scorer that Tyus Battle was last season, but Elijah Hughes is expected step up in that place and I could very well see him leading the team in scoring. What I am most curious about is the role that the nation’s leading high school scorer last year, Joe Girard, will fill this upcoming season. He can very obviously shoot the three, which leads some to think he will be a Buddy Boeheim type player in his freshman season, seeing quite a bit of playing time, hitting some big threes throughout the course of the season, and catching fire on some stretches. Though that wouldn’t be all that bad, I think he has the potential to make a much bigger impact, especially throughout his Syracuse career. Another player that is going to have to fill  big role is guard Jalen Carey, who didn’t get much playing time last season due to Frank Howard starting, but with him now gone, Carey will have a chance to prove himself. Incoming freshman guard Brycen Goodine will as well get a chance to make an impact as he sits at 75 in the ESPN 100 recruiting database. Ultimately, I don’t really know quite how the season will go, but I have high hopes and it just really depends how guys decide to step up.

Luis Severino – Yankee SP

Today is one of the best days of the year, Opening Day. The season starts now and I have never been more excited. The Yankees look amazing and they are actually winning 4-0 at the moment due to some middle of the lineup hitting and great Tanaka pitching. Something cool I though I should add is that my mom is at the game right now at Yankee Stadium with my aunt, and they are watching a great game on a great day. As I was saying earlier, the team does look solid, although they do have a lot of injures. One of them being 24-year-old right-hander Luis Severino getting shut down with inflammation in his rotator cuff. While it’s always scary to hear about a pitcher having any discomfort in that part of the body, the Yankees believe he should return to action within five weeks. Another key player on the team that is out at the moment is Aaron Hicks, as he is dealing with a lower back injury. While Hicks stated that he’ll return in time for the start of the second week of the regular season, he hasn’t played in a game since March 2nd. Another man not at full strength at the moment is veteran left hander C.C. Sabathia, who is still on the mend from knee surgery and an angioplasty. He reportedly could be back with the club within 2-3 weeks. Finally, there is right handed setup man Dellin Betances and the impingement in his right shoulder. The hard thrower wasn’t on the top of his game all Spring Training and he nows heads to the IL with an unexpected return date. Even with these injures, the Yankees are an extremely good team that will only get better as they get more healthy.

Duke PF Zion Williamson (returns tonight against SU)

Syracuse, NC State, Louisville, and Syracuse all won last night and now face the top 4 teams in the ACC tonight. Syracuse plays an almost fully healthy Duke team, with Syracuse unfortunately missing their star player Tyus Battle, so the game will be really hard to pull out for the Orange. NC State pulled off a huge comeback last night against a good Clemson team that is now facing missing the tournament. NC State is now playing UVA, and they are playing right now as I am typing this. UVA will pull that came out after struggling in the first half but once again dominating in the second. VT also plays tonight in a matchup versus FSU, and they are two pretty evenly matched teams, although VT has been down one of their top players in Justin Robinson. UNC goes up against Louisville, which in my opinion will be an easy victory for UNC. So there is 8 teams remaining in the ACC, and they really do all deserve to be in the big dance, even Clemson should get consideration. The ACC Tournament will be exciting to see play out, but this is only the beginning for what will be an amazing March. Go ‘Cuse!

Miguel Andujar – New York Yankees 3B

Spring Training is in full swing and the Yankees seem to have their team set and it looks pretty good on paper. The offseason hopes of signing Harper or Machado never came to be, but honestly I think it was for the better. Machado signed with the Padres, who aren’t and won’t be a winning team, so it seems to be all about the money for him. With Harper, he still hasn’t even signed yet put things are starting to look like he will sign with the Giants, who aren’t all that good either. Anyway, the Yankees still have a pretty stacked roster, the question is can they take down the reigning champion Red Sox. With additions of DJ LaMahieu and Troy Tulowitski on offense as well as James Paxton and Adam Ottovino on the pitching end, they have improved. My only worry is the lack of lefties in the lineup, with the only ones in the starting lineup being Hicks and Gardner, but I honestly see Frazier starting over Garnder by seasons end. Another battle that will be fun to see play out in the starting lineup is Voit vs. Bird, and at the moment Voit has the edge, but apparently Bird has improved a lot. Miguel Andujar seems to look like he will be our 3rd basemen of the future and everything is lined up for him to succeed with the Yankees as Nolan Arenado has signed a hefty extension with the Rockies. There is several questions leading to the start of the season, but I believe the Yankees will succeed and it will be fun to see play out.

Carrier Dome – Syracuse, New York

Since I last blogged a lot has happened in Syracuse basketball and college basketball as a whole. Syracuse is in the middle of the ACC at the moment and it seems to be whenever they play a team at top they lose, and whenever the play a team at the bottom they win. So they are beating teams worse them and losing to teams better than them, which makes sense. This is becoming a trend and they are getting beat pretty badly by these good teams which does need to change by March. But there is one exception, the road game against Duke. This was an amazing game for anyone watching it as the game win into OT and ‘Cuse got a huge win. A lot of people will argue the only reason they won is because Cam Reddish and Tre Jones were out, but ‘Cuse still got the job done against some of the best players in the country. They soon face Duke at home on the 23rd and me and my family are going to the Dome to attend the game. It is going to be so live and hype as this matchup is a pretty intense rivalry and there will be 35,000+ in attendance. I’ve heard rumors about college game-day coming out to the Carrier Dome for the game as well. Syracuse is coming of a rough beatdown by NC State and has Louisville coming up before Duke, so it won’t be an easy road ahead. Syracuse is slowing becoming a bubble team and with a tough ROS schedule, they need to smother together a few more conference wins before selection day. Anyways, I can’t wait to go out to Syracuse to watch the game and I can only hope for the best versus No. 2 Duke.

JIm Boeheim – Head Syracuse Basketball Coach

Conference play is beginning in college basketball and I can’t wait. With the ACC being the best conference in basketball, it will be interesting to see how all the great teams such as Duke, VT, UVA, NC State, UNC, Clemson, BC, Notre Dame, and my favorite Syracuse play out. Duke is the best team in the nation as of now and many people don’t see that changing anytime soon. Syracuse starts off ACC play with a home game against Clemson, who Duke just beat up pretty bad. Syracuse plays Duke next week away from the Dome, so we can only hope for the best with that. Now that Syracuse is heating up and seem to be more effective than the start of the year, I think and hope they will do very well in the ACC games this year. It is now the beginning of the most important time of the year for college basketball teams and I know there will be ups and downs, but I just want Cuse to secure a spot in March Madness.