A year’s worth of hype over Syracuse’s 2007 freshman class finally took a tangible form Friday.

The 2007-08 version of Syracuse men’s basketball met the media Friday at the squad’s annual media day at Manley Field House. Dressed in full uniform, the five freshmen – Jonny Flynn, Donte Greene, Scoop Jardine, Rick Jackson and Sean Williams – along with junior college transfer Kristof Ongenaet – absorbed much of the media attention.

‘Everybody’s (as) excited about the freshmen as we are,’ Orange head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘We expect a lot out of them, as does everybody, but I think they expect a lot out of themselves. We’re excited about what they can bring to the table.’

It’s a group that bears the burden of high expectations. The incoming class is ranked second in the nation by Scout.com and fourth by Rivals.com.

‘There’s always going to be pressure whenever you come in with as much clout that we had,’ Flynn said. ‘But us as freshmen, we have been through this before, a lot of us played overseas, so I think we’re ready for this.’

The SU women’s basketball team – headlined by its own highly touted freshman, Brooklyn’s Erica Morrow – also held Media Day at Manley an hour before the men.

Boeheim acknowledged that his new influx of talent will go a long way toward determining the success or failure of SU during the upcoming season. At least two, Flynn and Greene, should challenge for starting spots.

‘I think all of the freshmen are going to play,’ Boeheim said. ‘Obviously, we haven’t talked about them all, but I think they’re all ready to play.’

Flynn said that one factor helping the group of newcomers is the chemistry they’ve already formed. Flynn and Greene played together in the McDonald’s All-America game in March before spending two weeks together in Serbia playing for the United States in the Under-19 World Championships. Jardine and Jackson were high school teammates at Neumann-Goretti High School in Philadelphia.

‘It’s going to be very important, that chemistry,’ Flynn said. ‘You only build chemistry; you can’t practice and teach somebody how to get chemistry. But you got Scoop and Rick, and me and Donte have been playing a while. So when you put all this chemistry together, all you can do is win.’

The six new faces, along with the rest of the Syracuse squad, began official practices Friday, and now have three weeks to adjust to Boeheim’s system ahead of the first preseason contest Sunday, Nov. 4 against Saint Rose.

Sophomore Paul Harris, who was high school teammates with Flynn at Niagara Falls (N.Y.) High School, struggled during his freshman season after arriving at Syracuse the highest-rated recruit since Carmelo Anthony. He said that how the new players respond to coaching during the first few weeks will go a long way toward how much they contribute early on.

‘You just have to come in and play your game, and sometimes coach is gonna challenge you, but you can’t get caught up in all that,’ Harris said. ‘It just depends on how you react to it and how you respond to it.’

The risk of relying too much on his freshmen was not lost on Boeheim, who admitted only time will tell if this class can live up to the immense hype it’s received.

‘How good they can be or how good they will be, nobody knows the answer to that question,’ Boeheim said. ‘I’ve used the example before: Seton Hall was picked No. 1 in the nation one year, and they finished 10th or last in our league or something like that …You don’t know what freshmen are going to do.’

Jones, Triche visit SU

Two potential Syracuse recruits took media day as an opportunity to visit the Hill. Peekskill (N.Y.) High School senior forward Mookie Jones made his official visit to SU. The 6-foot-6, 180-pound Jones is ranked as the 13th-best small forward in the nation by Scout.com

Also in attendance was Jamesville-Dewitt (N.Y.) High School junior shooting guard Brandon Triche.

Both players took in the Orange’s first practice of the season Friday night, and later shot baskets with the team once practice had ended.

Look like Boeheim?

One of the many features of Syracuse’s Early Midnight Madness on Friday will be a Jim Boeheim look-a-like contest. The competition is open to only SU students who have a ticket to the event. Registration for the contest will take place inside Manley Field House at 7 p.m. Friday.

Two winners will be chosen and will earn the chance the sit with the team on the bench during the evening’s scrimmage.

Student tickets for Marquette

Syracuse students who have men’s basketball season tickets are being offered an opportunity to purchase a student ticket for the Marquette game on Saturday, March 8. The game is not part of the student season ticket package as it occurs during Spring Break.

The tickets will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis Tuesday at the Carrier Dome Box Office. The price of a ticket for the designated student seating area is $20.

Published on October 14, 2007 at 12:00 pm