March 5th 2011: Rick Jackson Night

Ladies and gentleman, mark your calendars. Rick Jackson is the lone senior on the Syracuse Orangemen basketball team. So, in honor of the final home game of the season, the Carrier Dome will be hosting Rick Jackson Night starting at 4:ooPM on March 5th, when Syracuse plays host to the DePaul Blue Demons.

Jackson came to Syracuse in 2007 in a big four man recruiting class. Rick Jackson was joined as a freshmen with Donte Greene out of Towson, MD, Jonny Flynn out of Niagara Falls, NY and Scoop Jardine out of Rick Jackson's hometown of Philadelphia, PA where both players attended St. John Neuman High School.

After Scoop Jardine's freshman season it was revealed that he was playing with a stress fracture and it would require surgery. This earned Jardine a medical redshirt, and saved him a year of eligibility. Scoop Jardine sat out the entire 2008-09 season.

Donte Greene came to Syracuse as an extremely highly touted recruit out of Towson Catholic High School and was a McDonald's All-American. Donte Greene averaged 17.7 points per game during his freshman year at Syracuse and also picked up 7.2 rebounds per contest. Despite shooting 34.5% from three-point range, Greene relied heavily on the outside shot and spent most of the season around the perimeter.

In spite of the team's shortcomings (did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament and lost to Massachusetts in the 2nd round of the NIT in the Carrier Dome), Donte Greene declared for the NBA draft following his freshman season and was taken 28th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies. He was traded that night to the Houston Rockets before being dealt to the Sacramento Kings, where he currently plays.

Jonny Flynn played two seasons at Syracuse (2007-08 and 2008-09) before declaring for the NBA Draft and being taken 6th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Jonny Flynn's draft stock skyrocketed following Syracuse's epic 6-overtime game against UCONN in the Big East Tournament, a game that saw Flynn play 67 of 70 minutes and finish with 34 points (16/16 from the foul line). Many believe that if not for the six overtime classic, it is very likely that Flynn would have returned for his junior season.

This leaves just Rick Jackson as the lone player from the 2007 recruiting class to be honored Saturday before tip off against DePaul.

Rick Jackson is one of those special players who significantly improved each season for Jim Boeheim's Syracuse Orangemen. During Jackson's freshman season he appeared in all 35 games without making a single start. Jackson shot 52.6% from the field while averaging 3.7 points and 3 rebounds per game while backing up Arinze Onuaku and Kristof Ogenaet. Jackson also blocked 44 shots that season.

Jackson's sophomore season began with him assuming a key role off the bench. Rick's improved footwork from his freshman to sophomore season was extremely noticeable and it showed on the floor. Rick increased his playing time from 12.9 to 22.1 minutes per game and doubled his scoring and rebounding to 8.3 points and 5.8 boards per game, earning a few starts along the way in the process. Jackson blocked 76 shots his second season, 22 more than the previous year. He also nearly doubled his assists and steals, going from 19 assists and 15 steals to 36 helpers and 34 steals.

Jackson's improvement from his sophomore season to his junior season was another big step in his development. This year, seniors Arinze Onuaku and Andy Rautins helped guide the Cuse to a #1 ranking in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls. Rick Jackson stepped up his own game, averaging 9.7 points and 7 rebounds per game while shooting 59.1% from the field. Jackson's defense also improved, blocking 69 shots and stealing 36 balls while dishing 60 assists inside (24 more than his previous season).

This season's version of Rick Jackson is a slimmer, stronger, and more determined Rick Jackson than Syracuse fan's have ever seen. Jackson has put this Syracuse squad on his back for most of the season, leading the Cuse to as high as a #3 national ranking prior to the mid-season slide. Through it all, Rick Jackson has played more minutes than ever before.

Rick has seventeen double-doubles in thirty games this season. He had seven double-doubles his first three seasons combined on the Hill. Furthermore, Rick Jackson is currently leading the Big East in rebounds per game with 10.8. The next nearest Big East conference player is Oriakhi on Connecticut who averages 8.7.

Jackson also leads the Big East in field goal percentage and blocked shots. Jackson is making 59.1% of his shots from the floor, 4.2% higher than Terrence Jennings of Louisville who is second and has blocked 73 shots this season, eight more than John Flowers of West Virginia who has played in three less games. Rick is also 4th in the Big East in minutes played with 35.4 minutes on average and is 20th overall in scoring with 13.1 points per game.

Rick is the main reason for Syracuse's 18-0 start out of the gates, and his steady play on both offense and defense has certainly carried the Orangemen to their 24-6 (11-6 Big East) record. He's 2nd on the team in scoring and is one of the most reliable players on the floor.

When Rick Jackson takes the floor for the final time inside the Carrier Dome on Saturday, he will be able to look back on a solid four year career at Syracuse, however his time in Orange will not be over. There is still the Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden and then there's the NCAA Tournament.

With so many big games potentially remaining in Rick Jackson's collegient career, we won't be saying good bye to the big man just yet.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

Who is Mark Meadors?

Last night watching the Seton Hall-Louisville game (the Pirates got embarrassed), ESPNU showed a graphic about how many coaches in Division 1 basketball were assistants under Rick Pitino.

After some investigative research TCC uncovered that 21 of Pitino's former assistants and players went on to coach division 1 college basketball. Billy Donovan at Florida, Tubby Smith in Minnesota and Mick Cronin at Cincinnati to name a few notables.

This got me to thinking about Jim Boeheim's staff over the years. I knew that Rick Pitino was an assistant under Jimmy B. When Coach Boeheim hired Pitino in 1976 he was the first assistant he brought in to help lead the Orangemen.

I reached for my trusted "Orange Handbook" as I knew there was a picture in there with Pitino and Boeheim together (above). Sure enough there was three very young and very recognizable figures. From left to right: Rick Pitino, Mark Meadors, Jim Boeheim and Bernie Fine (sporting a real nice mustache).

Many of you are probably wondering the same thing I wondered when I saw this picture. Who is Mark Meadors? Bernie Fine has been Jim Boeheim's 'Gal Friday' since the beginning. Rick Pitino is one of the iconic coaches in the Big East. Jim Boeheim is god. That's all a given.

Who is Mark Meadors? [Note: I was born in 1984]

Thanks to the good folks at Orange Hoops, we learn that Mark Meadors played at SU for the 1973-74 and 1974-75 seasons. Meadors, who is from Wolcott, CT, averaged 2.1 points per game in his 29 game career at Syracuse.

Mark Meadors was a forward off the bench on the varsity basketball team, however on the freshman team Meadors averaged 20.7 points per game. In an interesting twist that will more than likely never happen again, Meadors quit the basketball team before his senior season to coach the freshman team, known at the time as the "Tangerines."

Upon Meadors' graduation from Syracuse University in 1976 Jim Boeheim hired him to serve as an assistant on his first coaching staff. He remained in that role until 1979. From 1980 until 1983 Mark Meadors worked as the television color commentator for Syracuse Basketball games. He did games part-time until 1987, at which point Meadors was searching for regular, non hoops related, employment.

Meadors first worked at the Carrier Corporation, however took a job at Tronox, Inc. in 2000 as the Vice President of Human Resources after working at York International for over 12 years. Tronox, a company headquartered in Oklahoma City, is the world's 3rd largest producer and marketer of titanium dioxide pigment. In 2008, Tronox and Mark Meadors parted ways.

Currently Mark Meadors works at Terminix, a sales and inspection services company also located in Oklahoma City. According to his linkedin profile, this is a consumer services company, and Meadors is responsible for implementing the "6 point customer service formula" and insuring all customer needs are clearly understood and alternative solutions are presented.

From the looks of things, much like Bernie Fine, Mark Meadors no longer sports a mustache. I'd be interested to know if Mark still follows the team today. Perhaps we can get a followup story in the future if he accepts my Linkedin connection request.

Photo courtesy of the "Orange Handbook" by Bob Snyder, copyright 1996

ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll Released

The Coaches poll was released this afternoon, and Syracuse University is still ranked #7 in the nation. Last week, Syracuse received 571 votes in the ESPN/USA Today, and this week the Orangemen grabbed 10 more votes, to give them 581 total votes. They are eight votes away from the #5 team Kansas State (who Syracuse will be meeting on the gridiron in the Pinstripe Bowl December 30th).

Duke is still ranked first, and there are a total of six Big East teams in the Coaches Poll this week. Pittsburgh is the highest ranked conference team (#3), followed by UCONN (#6), Syracuse (#7), Georgetown (#10), Villanova (#12) and Notre Dame (#23).

Tuesday's opponent in the Jimmy V. Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City the Michigan State Spartans are ranked just behind Syracuse at #8.

For a complete look at the rankings, click here.

Weekend Wrap Up

Where has the time gone? I apologize for not being able to maintain The Cuse Connection this week as I was away looking after a family matter. However, I have returned and in my absence we've had some nice contributions from Zach (the beard) Menchini, and the Philistine added our first ever podcast. We recorded it at the Tropicana Hotel in Atlantic City during the legends classic. Hopefully you all found it enjoyable.

The biggest piece of news out of Syracuse, NY this week was the announcement that the Syracuse Orangemen officially accepted an invitation to the Pinstripe Bowl. By now, many news sources have reported the story to death. All I can say is that I am FIRED UP to attend the Pinstripe Bowl, which is literally being played in my backyard. Well, not behind my house, but rather a fifteen minute subway ride away. Tickets have been purchased, and you can expect The Cuse Connection to be tweeting live all day from Yankee Stadium.

It has also been confirmed that Kansas State has also accepted an invitation to the Pinstripe Bowl, and the game will be played at 3:30 on December 30th, 2010. The game will be televised live on ESPN. If you've gotten a late jump on tickets, and want to purchase tickets through the University, then be advised that the $36, $51 and $82 level tickets have sold out. Still remaining are tickets valued at $110 and $135. There are travel packages available and some sort of pre-game festivity, and all that information can be accessed here.

Also this week the Syracuse Orangemen basketball team defeated the Cornell Big Red 78-58 on Tuesday in the Carrier Dome. The Orangemen were once again lead by Rick Jackson to victory, as he registered his 6th double-double in 7 games this season. Jackson finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, to go along with 3 assists and one steal (zero turnovers). The rest of the Orangemen squad can not say the same about turnovers, as the team committed twenty of them.

Kris Joseph had 16 points and Dion waiters dropped 11 points in 20 minutes on 3 of 4 shooting beyond the arc. Fab Melo put together his best performance of this young season, contributing 8 points (3-4 from the field), 7 rebounds, 4 blocks and just 1 turnover in 22 minutes of action. However, freshman C.J. Fair stole the show, throwing down a thunderous SLAM DUNK from which the rims in the Carrier Dome have yet to recover. Fair only had 2 points on the night, but it was a loud 2 points.

Syracuse lead 38-17 at halftime, however turnovers mounted in the second half along with the sloppy play, and Cornell managed to outscore the Orangemen 41-40 in the second half. You can believe that Jim Boeheim was not pleased with the team's second half performance.

Today, Syracuse takes on North Carolina State in the Carrier Dome at 5:15PM. The game will be televised live on ESPN2. This game is the final tune up before Syracuse travels to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday to play Michigan State in the Jimmy V. Classic. Hopefully any remaining jitters and mistakes can be worked out today, before the team travels to New York City.

Contrary to popular belief, New York City's Madison Square Garden is not located on Erie Boulevard. The Cuse Connection will be tweeting live from that event as well, and it is imperative that you follow us on twitter @CuseConnection.

Syracuse Holds Off Detroit 66-55

After another extremely frustrating first half for the Orangemen, Syracuse regrouped in the locker room and came storming out of the gates for the second half. Syracuse outscored Detroit 41-27 in the second half and held on for the 66-55 victory in front of 17,379 fans in the Carrier Dome.

The boys from Philadelphia were on fire on this night. Without Scoop Jardine and Rick Jackson there is no way Syracuse could have survived this game. After being down 3 points at half time, Scoop Jardine put the team on his back and scored 12 points in the first 6 minutes of the second half en route to a career high 27 points on the night. Scoop also picked up 8 assists and 5 steals. Rick Jackson scored 10 points and had a career high twenty-two rebounds for the Orangemen.

After the game, Jim Boeheim said "If Scoop didn't pull us on his shoulders and take the game over, we have no chance. He just decided he was going to win this game by himself."

Unfortunately, the accolades end there for the Orangemen. Aside from the "Philadelphia Connection" no other Cuse players scored in double figures. In fact, outside of Rick Jackson and Scoop Jardine, no one else on the team made more than two shots from the floor!

Where do we begin? James Southerland made just 1 shot from the floor in 16 minutes, unfortunately he took 9 of them. He finished 1 of 8 from 3-point range with 3 rebounds and 1 block. He looked a little better defensively than in the Canisius game, however his shooting was abysmal. He averaged 1 3-point attempt per 2 minutes on the floor, and since he was in for 16 minutes and only hit 1 shot, it was very painful watching him play last night. As a team, Syracuse shot 2-17 from 3 in the first half and finished 7-30 (23.3%).

Fab Melo played just 15 minutes attempting 2 shots and hit 1 of them. Melo finished with just 2 points and zero rebounds in 15 minutes, however he did record 2 blocks and didn't foul out of this game. So that's something to build on. Hopefully he gets these "learning experience" games out of his system before the real competition heats up. Again, you can't expect a player with just 1 season of basketball in America to immediately dominate the inside. It takes time to adjust, especially when you are coming from another country and have played just one season of American high school basketball.

Baye Moussa Keita looked solid off the bench. In 22 minutes Keita shot 2 of 3 from the floor and scored 7 points with 4 rebounds with a team high 3 blocks. Expect big minutes from Keita while Fab Melo continues to find his game at the college level. He played terrific defense and his wingspan is very impressive.

If you want to find the SU player that disappointed the most, look no further than Kris Joseph. In 19 minutes Joseph finished 0-5 from the floor, 0-3 from long range, 3-6 from the foul line and fouled out of the game. Every time he tried to put the ball on the floor Detroit collapsed on him and he lost control. When he didn't lose the ball, Detroit was taking the charge on Joseph. And when he put up a long range shot, he missed. The good news for Joseph is that he can't have a worse game than he did last night. Kris Joseph is one of the most important players on this team, and if Syracuse wants to get wins against #2 Michigan State and the rest of the Big East than Kris Joseph is going to have to find his game, and find his jump shot.

For the complete box score, you can click here. Spoiler alert: It doesn't get any prettier for the rest of the team.

The quote of the night came from Jim Boeheim's post game press conference: "I don't mind if a guy takes a shot and tries to make it, but when they start aiming it and can't get to the rim, then you're not a college basketball player. We have some guys who need to figure out whether they are, or aren't really quick because we don't have a lot of time."

The Orangemen will get a chance to atone for their awful, awful shooting and shot selection Sunday against William & Mary at 2PM. This is the 2nd game of the warm up leg of the Legends Classic and the game will be televised on SNY, although right now it looks as if it will be tape delayed. They are scheduled to be on TV at 5PM.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

YES WE CAN!! (Syracuse Is Going Bowling!)

SYRACUSE 13

RUTGERS 10

Needing just one victory to declare themselves bowl eligible for the first time since the 2004 season, the Syracuse University football team traveled to Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, NJ. With the weather turning from warm and sunny to brisk and dark and the game knotted at 10-10 with 3:51 left in regulation, the Syracuse football team got the pigskin back for the offense following a missed 45 yard field goal attempt by Rutger's San San Te.

Syracuse got the ball on their own 33 yard line. Sixty-seven yards between the Orangemen and the post season. With Alec Lemon inactive due to an arm injury, forgotten receiver Marcus Sales was back on the field, and making his presence known. On the final drive of the game, Sales grabbed two catches for 20 yards and Antwon Bailey provided 37 yards on the ground to help keep the chains moving for the Orangemen. Delone Carter chipped in roughly 10 yards on the drive, and Syracuse was set up 1st and 10 at the Rutgers 16 yard line. After three safe plays Doug Marrone called upon Ross Krautman to come on and try to give Syracuse the lead.

Just like he has done all season, Ross Krautman (out of Franklin Lakes, NJ) trotted onto the field with nothing but ice water in his veins. Ross Krautman, playing like a man possessed this season, drilled the 24 yard field goal to give Syracuse a 13-10 lead, and Syracuse fans everywhere were 1:09 away from seeing the unthinkable.

The defense followed the offense onto the field and held Rutgers to a turnover on downs to secure the win for the Orangemen. The win, Syracuse's fifth on the road this season, leads the nation, and gives Syracuse a perfect four road wins in four tries in the Big East. This is the first time Syracuse has ever won four Big East road games.

After the game senior punter Rob Long said it all. "It's awesome. We had tears of joy. We knew we did it as a team." Doug Marrone said after the game that "they're a team of great character. They trust in each other. They believe in each other."

For all the years of heartache and just truly ugly, ugly football under the tutelage of Greg Robinson, Doug Marrone has returned to Syracuse University and lead the Orangemen back to the post season in just two seasons. The prodigal son has returned to pull Syracuse out of the depths of football obscurity, out of the doldrums of irrelevance, and has returned the Orangemen not just into respectable competitors, but into victors as well.

Ryan Nassib finished the day completing 16 of 31 passing attempts for 214 yards 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Nassib was sacked six times, however made the plays in the final minutes of the game to lead the Orangemen down the field and into scoring range. Marcus Sales, filling in for injured Alec Lemon, played unbelievably hauling in 5 catches for 73 yards to lead Syracuse, and Nick Provo added 4 catches for 60 yards. Antwon Bailey caught the lone touchdown pass and finished with 44 receiving yards to go along with 50 rushing yards (94 total yards on the day).

Bailey also had a fumble late in the first half, although it didn't end up costing the Orangemen. In fact, Syracuse turned the ball over three times in the first half, however they held the Scarlet Knights to just 3 first half points.

The loss drops the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to 4-5 on the year, and just 1-3 in the Big East. Rutgers ran for 216 yards, mainly out of the wildcat. One facet of the game not found on the stat sheet was the number of times Rutgers players stayed down after the play seemingly injured only to be seen moments later in perfect health and going right back into the game. Someone should look into how many extra time-outs Rutgers gets from those shenanigans, because it was happening all game. Particularly in the second half.

Syracuse has two home games remaining on their regular season schedule, before their long awaited trip to a bowl game. Saturday Syracuse will host Connecticut at 7PM and the following Saturday, the Orangemen will host former Big East foe Boston College in the regular season finale.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

Delone Carter's Run For the Record Book

In Saturday's 28-20 loss to Louisville in the Carrier Dome, Delone Carter ran for 107 yards on 21 carries and 1 touchdown. It was Carter's 10th 100 yard rushing game of his career and also moved him up the leader board to the #5 spot on Syracuse's All-Time Rushing List.

His performance this week moved him past #7 Dee Brown who had 2,626 rushing yards, #6 David Walker (2,643 rushing yards), and Syracuse legend Floyd Little who was fifth on the All-Time list with 2,704 yards. Carter now has 2,724 yards in his career which puts him in 5th place behind only James Mungro, Larry Csonka, Walter Reyes and Joe Morris.

Delone Carter is now 145 yards behind the #4 runner James Mungro, who rushed at Syracuse from 1998 to 2001. He finished his career at Syracuse with 2,869 yards and was the 1999 Music City Bowl MVP, when he rushed for 162 yards and 2 TDs on 12 carries against the University of Kentucky. James Mungro played in the NFL for the Indianapolis Colts from 2002-2006.

With three games remaining on Syracuse's regular season schedule, third place on the All-Time leader board is still very much attainable. If Delone Carter averages 71 yards per game over the last three games on the schedule, he will finish with 2,937 yards. That's three more yards than Larry Csonka who currently sits in third place.

Top Ten All-Time Leading Rushers at Syracuse University:

1. Joe Morris 4,299

2. Walter Reyes 3,424

3. Larry Csonka 2,934

4. James Mungro 2,869

5. Delone Carter 2,724

6. Floyd Little 2,704

7. David Walker 2,643

8. Dee Brown 2,626

9. Bill Hurley 2,551

10. Damien Rhodes 2,461

photo courtesy of Michael Borkowski