The Malachi Richardson Era at Syracuse lasted just one year and now it’s time for other players to step up.
So says Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who’s optimistic about his team as it comes off a Final Four appearance in 2016.
“We’re probably in much better position heading into this year than we were last year and last year turned out prettty good,” Boeheim said Wednesday on The 4 Quarters Podcast.
Syracuse loses Richardson and fellow guards Trevor Cooney and Michael Gbinije but adds incoming recruits Tyus Battle and Matthew Moyer, graduate transfer John Gillon and 7-foot-2 center Paschal Chukwu, who sat out last season after transferring from Providence.
“There’s no question. In one sense I’m sure there are some players thinking, ‘Well, we’re going to get a lot more shots now next year [that Richardson is gone],'” Boeheim said. “And that would be true. We think our freshmen can come in and help us. We think Tyler Lydon is ready for a big role. We think that Frank Howard is ready for a big role in the backcourt. We picked up a great fifth-year transfer [Gillon] who averaged 14 points a game in college. We think he’s going to be ready to help us. We got a 7-2 guy coming into the middle that we didn’t have this year. We’ve got Tyler Roberson who averaged eight rebounds a game and who we think is a tremendous player, so we’re in good position.”
The 6-foot-6 Battle was the New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year out of St. Joe’s-Metuchen, and he expects to have a bigger role now that Richardson, his former teammate on the Nike-sponsored Team Final AAU outfit, has signed with agent Andy Miller and is headed to the NBA Draft.
“I thought I would be playing with him this year,” Battle told Syracuse.com, “but he had an amazing (NCAA) tournament and Syracuse made an amazing run. It’s his career and he’s been working for this forever so I’m really happy for him.”
Battle added: “I really think I’m going to need to score a lot more now.”
Moyer also told the site: “It’s just more opportunity as freshmen to come in and impact the team. It’s just more responsibility on us younger guys – even the sophomores – to be able to perform and get things done.”
Boeheim is high on Battle, who is a very athletic wing but not the same shooter that Richardson proved to be.
“It’s like Malachi,” Boeheim said. “Malachi came in and averaged 14 points a game and was a huge factor….I think Tyus Battle, he’s rated in the same area in terms of ability. He’s not quite as good a shotoer, but he’s a tremendous athlete. So we think Tyus Battle can come in and make a huge difference here particularly given our strong our front line should be with Tyler Roberson, Tyler Lydon, Dajuan Coleman and Paschal Chukwu, so we really like our team.”
As for Richardson, Boeheim wished him well but reiterated comments he made Tuesday in Rochester by saying he thought Chad Ford’s projection of Richardson at No. 13 was off base.
“I love Malachi, he had a great year for us,” Boeheim said. “I think he’s got great potential and the NBA is drafting on potential. I think he can shoot it, he’s big, he’s got good hands, he can get to the basket. I think he’s got a chance to have a great career in the NBA. I just hope that he gets in an opportunity where you have that chance your first year. If you go late in the first round sometimes they send you to the D-League. I don’t think the D-League helps anybody that much anymore.
“But again, when you project somebody at 13 in the draft, there’s no reason for that. He hasn’t had workouts yet. It reminds me when the same pundit had Jerami Grant in the Top 20 and he went 39. It’s a very inexact science right now. NBA teams have not even talked about who they’re going to range if they’re in the 10-30 range. They haven’t even started workouts. You’re going to work guys out before you get to that kind of a place.
“I just think agents want players to come out and they’ll tell them pretty much what they want to hear. That’s just the way it works today. Nobody knows right now where anybody’s going in the Draft, even including the first one and two picks.
“But Malachi had a great year for us. He’s got tremendous potential to play in the NBA and we wish him well.”
NThe Malachi Richardson Era at Syracuse lasted just one year and now it’s time for other players to step up.
