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.