#6

#6 - The number of new players on the Syracuse roster this year.

Tyler Ennis, Michael Gbinje, Tyler Roberson, Ron Patterson, B.J. Johnson, and Chinoso Obokoh.

That is a lot of new players.  The largest recruiting class I can ever remember actually.  And a very key part of this season will be what the new class contributes, especially the guards.

As I mentioned yesterday, Syracuse has a loaded frontcourt with 2 seniors, 1 junior, and 2 sophomores returning.  So playing time for Roberson and Johnson will be tough to come by (and Obokoh has already been deemed a redshirt this year).  I expect Roberson to be someone to keep an eye on as a potential under-the-radar breakout player next year and B.J. Johnson to be more of a 4 year player who continues to develop and makes his impact a few years down the road.

But the backcourt is wide open for any of these players (Ennis, Gbinje, and Patterson) to step in and make an instant impact.  The only returning guard from last season's team is Trevor Cooney, and he's got plenty to prove himself.  

It will certainly be an interesting dynamic to watch this season.  On the one hand you have Boeheim who is notoriously hard on his freshmen and has no problem burying highly regarded youngsters on his bench.  Just look at the last couple seasons:

DaJuan Coleman - #18 in his class, 12.7 mpg

Rakeem Christmas - #23 in his class, 11.5 mpg

Michael Carter-Williams - #25 in his class, 10.3 mpg

Fab Melo - #15 in his class, 9.9 mpg 

Dion Waiters - #35 in his class, 16.3 mpg

Not exactly a good track record.

On the other hand, you have no returning point guard.  So Tyler Ennis is going to play 30+ minutes per game by default, and there probably is another 20-30 minutes out there for Gbinje or Patterson to grab if they play well.

I feel pretty good about Ennis at point guard.  I'm more skeptical of what the other guards will be able to provide.  But if any of the three can step up, we should have a very dangerous lineup.