Teammates say Hakim Warrick gained weight. He’s more comfortable dribbling. His jump shot improved so much that, now, he can even stick 3-pointers.

But ask Warrick the most significant advancement of his summer and he mentions nothing about basketball.

‘I’d say I smile a lot bigger now,’ Warrick said. ‘I’m more friendly. More like Carmelo.’

And for Warrick – a 6-foot-8 power forward sure to be the ambassador of Syracuse hoops – that’s a significant change. With Carmelo Anthony gone, Warrick, a junior, is set to take over as national media darling and Big Man on Campus for the defending national champions.

Warrick averaged 15 points and 9 rebounds last year – big enough numbers to earn him Most Improved Player in the Big East – while playing second fiddle to Anthony. This season, he’ll be relied on for even better stats as Syracuse’s No. 1 option.

‘Part of that is very frightening,’ Warrick said. ‘I’m going to be counted on to play the big role. Since the day I stepped on this campus, I wanted that. Now, I’m the guy everyone recognizes and wants to talk to. I know that everywhere – when I’m playing or when I go out at night – people are watching me. I just have to learn how to deal with it.’

He might be able to learn best from Anthony, who endured mobs of admirers nearly everywhere he went during his only year at Syracuse.

‘It’s not an easy thing to handle,’ Anthony said. ‘But it’s fun, man, and Hakim can deal with it. You just have to kind of enjoy the attention and make everybody love you. You have to use people’s high expectations as motivation.’

Then again, Warrick enters the year with high expectations of his own. He hopes to average a few more points than he did last season, which won’t be easy without Anthony to distract opposing defenders.

He’s polished his outside shot and, during workouts with the Orangemen, he’s impressed his teammates with a consistent, high-arching 3-point shot that he never would have dared to shoot last year.

‘As much as anybody on our team,’ said sophomore forward Matt Gorman, ‘he’s gotten a lot, lot better.’

Scary considering Warrick was already good enough for the NBA at the end of last season. Before the end of the school year, Warrick flirted with entering the 2003 NBA Draft, allowing pro teams to salivate over his athleticism before he decided to stay in college.

Originally, Warrick and Anthony had planned to leave Syracuse together after this season. Then Anthony jumped ship.

Does Warrick still think this season will be his college swan song?

‘That definitely crosses my mind,’ Warrick said. ‘I want to show that I’ve grown and that I can play inside and outside. If I do that and I’m satisfied, then I’ll go pursue my dream in the NBA after this season.’

Waiting game

Matt Gorman, meanwhile, is still pursuing his dream of playing in college. He never did get to do much of that last season, when he played in just nine games as a freshman.

Instead, Gorman, a 6-foot-9 power forward from Watertown, sat on the bench and stewed. He played in just three Big East games and, in practice, sometimes found himself grouped with the walk-ons.

‘Lets just say I got plenty of motivation for this season,’ Gorman said. ‘I feel confident that this year, everything’s going to be different. I want to come in this season and make a huge impact on the team.’

Since he plays the same position as Warrick and highly-touted freshman Terrence Roberts, that won’t be easy. But Gorman does have two things going for him: a soft- touch around the basket and a hard chip on the shoulder from last year.

Fueled in part by frustration, Gorman spent his summer in the gym and packed on 15 pounds of muscle. Now, he weighs just over 240.

He also drew up a map for his college career. Call it the Josh Pace plan. It reads something like this:

After disappointing freshman season, make a big impact sophomore year. Start junior season and take over the team as a senior.

‘That’s what I’m aiming for,’ Gorman said. ‘I just tried to take last year and use it as motivation. What choice did I have?

‘I didn’t think about transferring and I didn’t want to complain about minutes. I didn’t want to be that whining guy who says he should be playing while his team gets ready to win a national championship.

‘I didn’t go home and throw stuff around my room because I wasn’t playing as much as a wanted to. I didn’t call home and cry. Nothing killed me. I just used it to work harder.’

Back to business

Jealous of Carmelo Anthony, a 19-year-old multi-millionaire? If so, consider this:

During the one week Anthony plans to spend in Syracuse, his calendar is packed with public appearances. Saturday, he spent his afternoon at a press conference. Sunday, he spent five hours signing autographs.

‘Everything is business now,’ Anthony said. ‘I can’t really go outside here without getting mobbed.’

So he’s spending his free time – on the rare occasion he gets it – playing video games in Warrick’s South Campus apartment.

‘We can’t really do anything else,’ Warrick said. ‘We can’t walk around the Quad or go to the mall, because people will get crazy. He’s too popular.’

Published on September 9, 2003 at 12:00 pm