College men’s basketball: Syracuse Orange unveiling 20th anniversary celebration amid difficult season

The program will also recognize the 20th anniversary of its only NCAA national championship with most of the 2003 team expected to be on hand, notably Hakim Warrick and assistant coach Gerry McNamara, who will have their respective jerseys retired.

The Orange will also celebrate seniors Joseph Girard III, Symir Torrence, John Bol Ajak and Jesse Edwards, all of whom could return with an added year of eligibility for playing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ajak is the only potential outgoing player to unveil plans for next year, telling syracuse.com this week that he will seek a transfer after the season.

“We just need to come out and play for our seniors,” SU freshman guard Judah Mintz said following SU’s most recent setback, a deflating 96-76 home loss to Georgia Tech on Tuesday.

“Wake Forest is a big game for us, the retiring of G-Mac’s jersey, it’s a special day regardless of what happened (against Georgia Tech), it’s going to be a special day for the program, so we’ll try to move forward.”

Syracuse will need to win next week’s Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament for an automatic bid to reach the NCAA Tournament. Barring a sudden turnaround or NIT berth, SU is in danger of missing the postseason outright in two consecutive seasons for the first time since 1969 and ’70.

But players will be motivated to ensure a festive atmosphere on Saturday, particularly for McNamara, the starting point guard of the ’03 champions who is in his 11th season as an assistant to head coach Jim Boeheim.

“You can’t do anything but respect him and I’m just honored to be able to wear the No. 3 like him,” Mintz said. “Guards from Syracuse have been really good for years and G-Mac is no different, he’s one of the greatest ones to play here.”

The championship team will be honored at halftime with almost every player, including Watertown native Matt Gorman and star forward Carmelo Anthony, expected to be present.

McNamara and Warrick — the former teammates who played primary roles in the 2003 national title game win over Kansas — will have their shared jersey retirement ceremony after the game.

“He’s obviously a legend in Syracuse for a reason, won a national championship, one of the best of all time,” Girard III said of McNamara. “To be able to work with him every day is an honor for me, I’m blessed to be able to do it, he’s one of the main reasons I came here.”

McNamara and Warrick will join 14 other SU players — including Anthony, another starter on the 2003 title team — with their respective jerseys in the Dome rafters.

After dissecting another disappointing loss on Tuesday, Boeheim spoke of the impact of the duo during the national championship victory over Kansas.

Warrick blocked a potential game-tying bucket in the closing seconds, and McNamara drained six 3-pointers in the first half to help spark SU to the landmark victory that was re-lived Friday night with a Watch Party at the National Veterans Resource Center.

That event featured players and coaches from the championship squad and was part of the long-awaited weekend anniversary celebration announced prior to the season.

“It’s hard to think about that when we’re at this point of the season, but I’ve said it many times, how important they were, two guys that as young players helped us win an NCAA championship,” Boeheim said after the Georgia Tech loss.

“If Hakim doesn’t block that shot, I think he makes it and we go to overtime and see what happens, and Gerry’s six 3’s — I think Kansas was better than us, there was not much doubt in my mind about that — and his six 3’s changed that. Without that, we would not have won, so they deserve to be up there.”

The current SU team will need a vintage defensive performance to regroup ahead of the ACC Tournament.

The Orange has allowed 13 or more 3-pointers to all four opponents during its ongoing losing streak and the Demon Deacons enter as the ACC leader in 3-pointers per game (9.5) and second in 3-point percentage (.371).

ACC SEEDING IMPLICATIONS

Syracuse will finish between the Nos. 8-10 seed for the ACC Tournament next week at the Greensboro Coliseum based on Saturday’s results.

Syracuse could jump past Wake Forest for the No. 8 seed with a victory in their matchup. If SU loses and Boston College (15-15, 9-10) were to beat Georgia Tech, the Orange will fall to the No. 10 seed.

The top nine teams receive a first-round bye and SU would begin play Wednesday in that scenario, but it would begin Tuesday as the 10th seed and need to win five games in consecutive days to gain the automatic NCAA berth.

RECRUITING BUZZ

Syracuse is one of three finalists for 2024 four-star forward Marcus Adams Jr., along with UCLA and Kansas, per a post to his social media accounts this week.

Adams Jr. is a 6-foot-7, 195-pound junior from Narbonne High School in Harbor City, Calif., and is ranked as the 29th-best player in his class nationally. He is undecided on a potential reclassification to 2023.

He told 247 Sports of including SU in his final three this week: “Coach Boeheim, Coach (Allen) Griffin and the staff are great. Syracuse doesn’t have the best record right now but they still have a good team with great guys, and a legendary coach.”

Adams Jr. will join four-star shooting guard Elijah Moore if he remains in the 2024 class and chooses SU. William Patterson, the 7-foot-2 center, is the lone verbal commit for SU in the 2023 cycle.