Scoop Jardine pleaded his case to a trio of Syracuse teammates who had visions of professional basketball dancing in their heads. Jardine, a redshirt sophomore, tried to convince Jonny Flynn, Paul Harris and Eric Devendorf to stay for one more season in the frozen tundra of Syracuse. After a Sweet 16 run last year, Jardine had grand plans.

‘I knew if one of them came back, we would have been pretty scary,’ Jardine said. ‘But all three of them, oh man, national championship.’

Unfortunately for Jardine, his negotiating skills aren’t up to par with his talent on the basketball court. All three bolted school early, leaving a huge void in the Orange lineup.

Despite the losses, Jardine and his teammates still see this year’s team budding with potential. After losing its top three offensive players from last season, Syracuse and many Big East coaches believes it can overcome that depletion this season with a wealth of experience. Syracuse will look to return to the Sweet 16 for the first time in back-to-back seasons since the Orange accomplished the feat in 2002-03 and 2003-04.

‘I think you just have to move on with what you have and not think about last year’s team,’ senior shooting guard Andy Rautins said. ‘You can’t do anything about it. You just have to move forward with the guys we have. We’re definitely well-equipped enough to compete at a high level and be at the top of the Big East.’

Flynn, Harris and Devendorf were major reasons why Syracuse finished 28-10 and advanced to the Sweet 16 last season. The trio averaged 45.1 of the Orange’s 80.2 points per game (56.2 percent), while also chipping in 442 assists and 473 rebounds. They also provided the competitive fire and leadership that propelled sixth-seeded Syracuse on its unlikely run to the Big East tournament championship game.

The charismatic Flynn, the catalyst of the group, flashed one smile after another while piloting Syracuse’s offensive attack at such a high level that the Minnesota Timberwolves selected him sixth overall in the 2009 NBA Draft. With a sweet drive and jump shot, Flynn was such a driving force that he was named the 2009 Big East tournament MVP in a losing effort. Players like that are not easy to replace.

‘Replacing Jonny Flynn is the biggest question,’ Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin said at Big East media day in New York. ‘He was arguably the best guard in college basketball last year. He would have got my vote as far as having a winning impact on his team and being the most valuable player in the country. I don’t know who won the Wooden Award and stuff, but nobody played 40 minutes a game like him.’

Having to overcome the loss of a lottery pick is challenging enough, but having to fill the void left by Harris and Devendorf makes the task even more arduous.

Rautins described Harris as a monster on the glass and ‘almost a guarantee for eight or 10 rebounds’ per game over this three-year career at Syracuse. Harris was not drafted by an NBA team, and was recently cut by the Utah Jazz.

Devendorf made driving to the basket look effortless and always found a way to elevate his game when the spotlight shined brightest. Since his freshman season as Gerry McNamara’s sidekick, Devendorf could change a game – with either great plays or bone-headed decisions – and perhaps was the most hated player in college basketball.

Rautins admitted the squad would miss his ‘hyping up the crowd.’ Devendorf was last reported mulling options with teams overseas and considering playing in the NBA Developmental League.

Without its three stars, the Orange’s identity will be altered. But the bottom line for any Syracuse team – a berth in the NCAA Tournament – seems as attainable as ever.

‘I think in college basketball you always have to be prepared to lose key guys,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘You’re going to lose guys, whether they’re good or if they’re seniors. So we’ve usually had to lose a key guy or two. The nice thing is that we have a lot of guys coming back that are experienced guys, and we expect them to go forward.’

For most teams, this would be written off as a rebuilding year. Syracuse is different. The Orange has already been tabbed as the No. 31 team in the country in the Associated Press poll and No. 25 in the coaches’ poll.

The key is the experience the Orange still possesses. Syracuse is one of the few teams in the country to bring back two fifth-year seniors in Arinze Onuaku and Rautins. Rick Jackson returns at power forward, and Iowa State transfer Wesley Johnson will step right into Harris’s spot. Even point guard, which is expected to be the weakest link on the team, will feature a former starter in Jardine.

That experience brings leadership. Rautins and Onuaku have been with Syracuse through all the highs and the lows of the past four years. They were there for Syracuse’s upset of Connecticut in last season’s classic six-overtime game and experienced the sting of missing two consecutive NCAA Tournaments.

Rautins is already acting the part, talking of being a more vocal leader after leaving that duty to the now departed players the past few years. Onuaku sees himself as someone who can ignite a fire under the team, even if it doesn’t include screaming. The seniors are ready to step in where Flynn, Harris and Devendorf left off.

‘We’ve got guys coming off a Sweet 16 team last year,’ Rautins said. ‘I think that we’re able to take the younger guys under our wings a little bit and take more of a leadership role on the court, and I think we’ll be fine.’

As much as the current players will have to fill the void, it will also lean heavily on Boeheim. And the rest of the Big East doesn’t see the architect of this program missing a beat.

Boeheim has been here and done that. His consecutive streak of 20-win seasons attests to that. In 2007, he lost a quality trio of Demetris Nichols, Darryl Watkins and Terrence Roberts to graduation, and still had his team battling for an NCAA Tournament berth. As St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts said, Syracuse just reloads.

Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon said at Big East media day that when he began coaching for the Panthers, he was always amazed at how Syracuse would lose a few players, and all the pundits thought it was going to be a down year. Instead, Boeheim uncovered a role player and elevated him into one of the league’s better players.

Even with a new nucleus, the Big East coaches know Syracuse will be back in the hunt because of Boeheim.

‘A coach’s responsibility is to take the players you have and take the circumstances that hit you through a season and make the best team out of it and have the best season you can,’ Villanova head coach Jay Wright said. ‘There is no one in college basketball, no one, that has done that better than him. Thirty 20-win seasons. Not Dean Smith, not Bobby Knight have done that, so you’ve got the best guy ever in the history of college basketball. Who’s better at putting a team together and wining 20 games than Jim Boeheim? There is nobody better than him, so I just expect him to find a way to put that team together.’

So even though there might not be the iron man attitude of Flynn, or Harris’s grinding play under the rim, or the jump-on-table leadership tactics employed by Devendorf at Syracuse’s disposal, a stable core is still in place.

Yes, there was a very good chance that Syracuse could have won a national title with those three players returning for one shot at glory. Still, that doesn’t mean Onuaku can’t see this team cutting down the nets in Indianapolis at season’s end.

‘I’m just looking at what we have now, and I feel we have the type of talent that can end up No. 1,’ Onuaku said. ‘The what ifs are what’s going on now, because they haven’t seen these new faces, but once we come out on day one and they see the talent level, then we are going to catch a couple eyes.’

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on November 4, 2009 at 12:00 pm