2024-25 North Carolina Sports Network
Atlantic Coast Conference Basketball Spotlight:
Syracuse

By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network

School: Syracuse University

Location: Syracuse, N.Y.

Previous Conference Affiliations: Independent (1900-79), Big East (1979-2013)

ACC Member Since: 2013-14

ACC Ranking Among 32 Leagues (KenPom): 5th (2025), 5th (2024), 7th (2023), 5th (2022), 5th (2021), 4th (2020)

NCAA Tournament Bids: 41 (1957, 1966, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021)

NCAA Championships: 1 (2003)

Final Fours: 6 (1975, 1987, 1996, 2003, 2013, 2016)

Conference Titles: 5 (1981, 1988, 1992, 2005, 2006 in Big East)

Conference 1st-Place Finishes: 10 (1980, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2010, 2012 in Big East)

Head Coach: Adrian Autry (52, 2nd season)

As A Player: Syracuse (1990-94); 10-year international pro career

Record As Head Coach (through Dec. 30): 26-18 (.591) in 1+ seasons

Previous HC Experience: none

AC Experience: Bishop Ireton HS (2006-07), Paul VI HS (2007-08), Virginia Tech (2010-11), Syracuse (2011-23)

Assistant Under: Seth Greenberg, Jim Boeheim

2023-24 Record: 20-12, 11-9 (5th in 15-team ACC)

2024-25 Preseason Prediction (Coaches): 11th in 18-team ACC

2024-25 Record (Through Dec. 30): 6-6, 0-1 ACC

2024-25 Midseason Ranking (KenPom): #110 nationally (15th in ACC)

Upcoming Schedule: Wake Forest (12/31), at Florida State (1/4), Georgia Tech (1/7), at Boston College (1/11), Louisville (1/14), Notre Dame (1/18)

For almost a half-century (1976-2023), coach Jim Boeheim defined Syracuse basketball.

For 16 of those years — first as a star player for Boeheim, more recently as his long-time assistant coach — Adrian Autry helped write that script.

Autry, now in his second season as the head coach of the Orange, in some ways personifies Syracuse basketball even more than Boeheim did.

While Boeheim started his Syracuse playing career as a walk-on, Autry arrived as a McDonald’s All-American. Whereas Boeheim grew up just a one-hour drive from the Syracuse campus, in upstate New York, Autry was a New York City kid, from St. Nicholas of Tolentine High School in the Bronx.

On the recruiting trail, Autry already has made quite a mark, essentially in his own image.

Freshman forward Donnie Freeman, a McDonald’s All-American, is already one of the best players on this year’s Syracuse squad and a very strong candidate for the ACC’s 2025 All-Freshman team. Rookie guard Elijah Moore, a highly coveted four-star prospect, starred at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx.

If Autry had been able to hold onto his two best players from last year’s team, sophomore point guard Judah Mintz and sophomore forward Maliq Brown, the Orange probably would have been projected as a top-tier team in the ACC and a likely NCAA Tournament participant.

Instead, Mintz opted to turn pro early (after going undrafted, he’s playing in the G League), Brown transferred to Duke, and the Orange were projected to finish in the bottom half of the expanded, 18-team ACC.

The team’s mediocre 6-6 start, during which the Orange beat each of their lesser opponents but lost to all five of their highly regarded nonconference foes (i.e., Tennessee, Texas Tech, Maryland, Texas, Georgetown), reflected the combination of a porous defense and a hand injury that sidelined star guard JJ Starling for almost all of December.

“We had a pretty tough, challenging nonconference schedule,” Autry said. “We’ve got to keep moving. You know, you can’t stop. Keep improving on things, tweaking things as the season goes, getting better, getting better. And we’re still waiting on a timeline on JJ to see when he comes back.”

2024-25 Syracuse Orange
(6-6, 0-1 ACC; through Dec. 30)

STARTERS (stats = 2024-25 numbers)

PG Jaquan Carlos, Sr. (6-0/180) — 2024 Hofstra transfer (2-year starter)
33 mpg, 6 ppg, 2 rpg, 35% FG, 69% FT, 19% threes, 60/22 ATO, 3 blocks, 14 steals

G JJ Starling*, Jr. (6-4/206) — 2023 Notre Dame transfer (starter)
37 mpg, 20 ppg, 5 rpg, 47% FG, 69% FT, 29% threes, 18/13 ATO (pre-injury)

F Chris Bell*, Jr. (6-7/192) — 4-star HS signee in 2022
26 mpg, 10 ppg, 3 rpg, 38% FG, 75% FT, 22% threes, 8/10 ATO, 8 blocks, 7 steals

F Donnie Freeman, Fr. (6-9/205) — 5-star HS signee (IMG Academy)
25 mpg, 14 ppg, 8 rpg, 51% FG, 83% FT, 34% threes, 17/22 ATO, 4 blocks, 4 steals

C Eddie Lampkin Jr., Gr. (6-11/265) — 2024 Colorado transfer (3-year starter)
27 mpg, 10 ppg, 7 rpg, 58% FG, 50% FT, 100% threes (few), 32/30 ATO, 5 blocks, 6 steals

KEY RESERVES (stats = 2024-25 numbers)

F Jyare Davis, Sr. (6-7/220) — 2024 Delaware transfer (2nd-team All-CAA)
20 mpg, 9 ppg 5 rpg, 59% FG, 68% FT, 14% threes, 12/13 ATO, 4 blocks, 5 steals

G Elijah Moore, Fr. (6-4/176) — 4-star HS signee (Cardinal Hayes in Bronx)
20 mpg, 8 ppg, 2 rpg, 44% FG, 73% FT, 33% threes, 14/14 ATO, 0 blocks, 6 steals

G Lucas Taylor, Sr. (6-5/200) — 2024 Georgia State transfer (starter)
18 mpg, 4 ppg, 2 rpg, 39% FG, 80% FT, 29% threes, 9/5 ATO, 4 blocks, 9 steals

F Petar Majstorovic, Fr. (6-8/215) — 2024 signee from Serbia
9 mpg, 3 ppg, 3 rpg, 43% FG, 50% FT, 67% threes (few), 5/3 ATO, 1 block, 2 steals

G Kyle Cuffe Jr., r-Jr. (6-2/188) — 2023 Kansas transfer (redshirt)
9 mpg, 4 ppg, 1 rpg, 43% FG, 56% FT, 33% threes, 3/7 ATO, 0 blocks, 2 steals

Departures from 2023-24: BF Maliq Brown* (So./transfer/Duke), BF Peter Carey (So./transfer/Siena), WG Quadir Copeland (So./transfer/McNeese State), C Mounir Hima (Jr./transfer/Howard), PG Judah Mintz* (So./early NBA draft/G League), C William Patterson (Fr./transfer/Three Rivers CC), WF Justin Taylor* (So./transfer/James Madison), BF Benny Williams (Jr./transfer/Central Florida)

*—2023-24 starter (started at least 50% of Syracuse’s games last season)