From the Newsroom : Steve Infanti

Donte' Greene's Future at Syracuse

PHRankin — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:06:00 GMT

With the end of the SU basketball season comes the inevitable question: Will Donte’ Greene go pro?

He told us Tuesday night after the loss to UMass that he really hadn’t made a decision yet. He essentially said that he wanted to take some time and get as much information as possible. Let’s look at some of that information.

When Greene arrived on campus in the fall, he was considered a top five pick. Now that his freshman season is complete, most draft experts have him listed as a mid-first round selection. That’s a big difference in terms of money. Consider that last year’s #15 pick, Rodney Stuckey, is making about $1.5 million this season. Last year’s #5 pick meanwhile, Jeff Green (out of Georgetown), is making twice that. Green’s 2008 salary is more than $3 million. That certainly adds up over the course of a three-year contract.

So, that’s the dilemma facing Donte’. He has said before that “the NBA will always be there.” And he’s right. If Greene comes back to school one more year, he could improve his game, improve his NBA value, and take a shot at winning a national championship. If he leaves now, he’ll still be a first-round pick, but he’ll require more on-the-job training and have to work that much harder for a big contract down the road.

Donte’ Greene isn’t ready to become a star in the NBA next season. We all know he has things he needs to work on. But keep in mind that he has size, athleticism, and a very good outside shot – all things that are hard to find and all things that NBA scouts are looking for.

So should Donte’ Greene enter the 2008 NBA Draft? Will he enter the NBA Draft? The answer to those two questions may not be the same. One thing we do know, is that Donte’ has exactly one month to decide. The clock is ticking…

The Big Red Go Dancing

PHRankin — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:09:00 GMT

Post by Steve Infanti - An NCAA Tournament bid for the Syracuse men’s basketball team is looking quite unlikely at this point in the season, but Central New York will still be represented in the Big Dance – by Cornell. Over the weekend the Big Red clinched the school’s first conference title in 20 years and since the Ivy League doesn’t have a postseason tournament, Cornell is the first team in the country to earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Head Coach Steve Donahue has slowly built this program up virtually from ground zero. The year before Donahue got to Ithaca, Cornell was 10-17 and finished with a 3-11 conference record. By the time Donahue’s first recruits became seniors, he had doubled that conference win-total and it hasn’t gone down since. The Big Red is perfect in Ivy League play this season – 12-0.

It’s one thing to make the NCAA Tournament, but the Cornell players aren’t satisfied with that. They want to win in the NCAA Tournament. And they keep playing like this, the Big Red just might have a fighting chance. Riding the momentum of a 14-game winning streak, Cornell is receiving a couple of votes in the AP national rankings. They could be as high as a 12 or 13-seed – which is much better than having to play one of the nation’s elite teams in the first round like a North Carolina or Memphis.

Speaking of the nation’s elite though, Cornell showed back in January that it can compete against the best. The Big Red gave Duke all it could handle down in Durham before eventually falling 81-67. In other words, before you go ahead and fill out your brackets in a couple of weeks – give the Big Red a little consideration and a lot of credit. The rest of the country is finally starting to see what those of us in Central New York have known all season long … these kids at Cornell can play.

SU Women Go Down to the Wire

shaunganley — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:22:00 GMT

Posted by Steve Infanti - It's been quite a while since the SU women's basketball team received this much media attention. It's attention that is well-deserved. The Orange are off to their best start in program history -- that includes the longest winning streak in their history. But both of those accomplishments pale in comparison to what they did Tuesday night.

The SU women gave top-ranked UConn its toughest game of the season. I realize the Orange didn't win , but keep in mind that the Huskies were untouchable to this point. Coming into Syracuse, their average margin of victory was 41 points. That was their average. UConn had already beaten five different teams by at least 50 points. Only one team lost by less than 20 (that was 4th-ranked Stanford). You get the picture?

No one gave the Orange much chance of even keeping this game competitive for the first 10 minutes, let alone for the entire game. A bounce here or there and we may be talking about the greatest upset in program history and one of the greatest upsets all-time in women's college basketball.

Instead, SU has to settle for a moral victory. Head Coach Quentin Hillsman says he doesn't believe in moral victories but the effects of this game may be felt for weeks, months, even years to come. A record crowd of more than 4,000 fans came out to the Dome Tuesday night (that's the most in SU women's history). If they can keep those fans coming back, this team will be awfully tough to beat at home. That helps recruiting which helps the future of this program.

If you want to be a part of the future, SU's next home game is next Saturday against St. John's. See you in the Dome...