Tag: Syracuse Orange

Kyle McCord leads Syracuse to victory, puts himself in Heisman conversation

Ohio State fans are left wondering what could have been after a huge game from former quarterback Kyle McCord for Syracuse.

Week 2 went about as well as it could have for coach Fran Brown and the Syracuse Orange. ‘Cuse took down a ranked Georgia Tech squad, 31-28, to move to 2-0 on the season.

The star for Syracuse was quarterback Kyle McCord, who completed 32 passes for 381 yards and four touchdowns, with most of his damage coming in the first half.

It is now the second straight game where McCord has thrown for over 350 yards with four touchdown passes, having hit those totals in Week 1’s 38-22 win over Ohio.

The Ohio State transfer is off to an elite start to the season, putting himself on the Heisman Trophy radar for an upstart ‘Cuse team and causing Buckeyes fans to wonder what could have been.

It’s not that McCord was bad at Ohio State – he threw for 3,170 yards with a stellar 24-to-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio in 2023 – but the early returns for the senior at Syracuse seem to point to a player who had more potential that was not unlocked by coach Ryan Day in Columbus.

Whether McCord can stay in the Heisman conversation depends not only on his continued performance but the performance of the Orange, who are off in Week 3 before hosting new ACC foe Stanford on Friday, September 20 at 10:30 PM ET.

All-ACC star guard signs Exhibit 10 deal with Philadelphia 76ers

Syracuse guard Judah Mintz signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.

The Philadelphia 76ers signed former Syracuse Orange guard Judah Mintz to an Exhibit 10 deal on Sunday, according to a team announcement.

Mintz starred at Syracuse for two seasons, earning All-Freshman honors after averaging 16.3 points and 4.6 assists for the Orange in Jim Boeheim’s final season in 2022-23.

He stuck with Syracuse when Red Autry took over in 2023-24, and it paid off as Mintz improved statistically across the board – averaging 18.8 points, 4.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game.

The 6’3 guard went undrafted after declaring for the NBA draft, ultimately joining the Sixers for summer league where he showcased his strong mid-range game, pesky defensive traits, and elite ability to get to the free throw line. He posted averages of 9.5 points, 1.5 assists, and 1.3 steals in 19.2 minutes per game.

Exhibit 10 deals can be converted to two-way contracts before the start of the NBA regular season, which would allow Mintz to play for both the Delaware Blue Coats and 76ers during the season.

Currently Philadelphia has former Kentucky wing Justin Edwards, former Memphis forward David Jones, and NBA veteran and former Rhode Island guard Jeff Dowtin on two-way deals.

Duke Blue Devils now have a top-20 transfer portal class after landing Tulane’s Sion James

After his third transfer on Friday, head coach Jon Scheyer now boasts a top-20 transfer class on top of his historic 2024 recruiting group.

After the Friday commitment of Tulane guard Sion James, the Duke Blue Devils now have 247Sports’ 18th-best transfer class in the country.

James, who averaged 14.0 points and shot 51.4% from the floor as a junior last season, became the third transfer commitment of the offseason for head coach Jon Scheyer. Purdue’s Mason Gillis, who was named the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year last season, and Syracuse’s Maliq Brown both committed back in April.

The Blue Devils are one of three teams in the top 20 of 247Sports’ rankings with three commitments or fewer. The Kansas Jayhawks (sixth) also only have three players in the transfer class right now, and the Baylor Bears (17th) have former Duke captain Jeremy Roach as one of two transfers.

Duke’s average rating of 93.50 between its trio of new stars is the 10th-highest of any school.

The Blue Devils are also the highest-ranked ACC team in the transfer rankings. NC State, who is one spot behind Duke in 19th, is the only other school in the conference inside the top 20.

Scheyer gets to pair this top-20 transfer class with the top-ranked recruiting class in the country next season, featuring No. 1 overall recruit Cooper Flagg and five other top-50 prospects.

Former LSU women’s basketball guard Angelica Velez commits to Syracuse

Angelica Velez has found her new home in the transfer portal.

A former LSU women’s basketball guard has announced her transfer destination.

On Sunday morning, [autotag]Angelica Velez[/autotag] announced on social media that she has committed to continue her career at Syracuse. A true freshman this past season from the Bronx, Velez appeared in 23 games coming off the bench and totaled 111 minutes while averaging 1.2 points with 13 total assists and rebounds.

Though she likely would have seen a much more significant role next season after the departure of [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag] in the transfer portal, she opted to do the same and now joins a Syracuse team that finished last season 24-8 and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament.

LSU has done a lot of work rebuilding the backcourt this offseason, adding a trio of experienced guard transfers in [autotag]Kailyn Gilbert[/autotag], [autotag]Shayeanne Day-Wilson[/autotag] and [autotag]Mjracle Shepphard[/autotag]. It also signed the top player in Louisiana in guard [autotag]Jada Richard[/autotag].

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Duke lacrosse takes down Syracuse, advances to ACC title game against Notre Dame

Duke men’s lacrosse booked a ticket to play Notre Dame in the ACC title match on Sunday after the Blue Devils jumped out to a 9-2 lead over Syracuse in the opening period.

Duke took down Syracuse 18-13 in the ACC semifinals on Friday night, setting up a battle with No. 1 Notre Dame on Sunday.

The Blue Devils jumped out to an immediate lead over the Orange with five goals in the first five minutes. Senior attacker Brennan O’Neill assisted two of the first three goals, one to Dyson Williams and one to Josh Zawada, and junior midfielder Andrew McAdorey scored two unassisted goals in the early going.

McAdorey ended with five goals, the most of any player on either team. He tacked on another with five minutes left to play in the first period, this time on an assist from Zawada, and he assisted Grant Mitchell on Duke’s last goal of the period in the closing seconds.

After 15 minutes of play, the Blue Devils led 9-2. The Orange tacked on three quick goals to start the second, but McAdorey and O’Neill each added a goal to keep Syracuse at arm’s length.

Duke took an 11-6 lead into halftime, and after an early Syracuse goal to open the second half, the Blue Devils promptly ended the game. Five unanswered goals, including two from O’Neill (who ended the game with four) and two from Williams, broke the game wide open. When the curtain closed on the third period, the Blue Devils led 16-7 with 15 minutes between them and the championship match.

Zawada added a goal in the opening 90 seconds of the fourth period to stretch the lead to 10, and the Blue Devils coasted from there. The Orange made a furious rally, including two goals in the final minute, but they could only pull within five.

The Blue Devils advanced to the ACC title game with the victory, where the top-ranked Fighting Irish await with the conference championship on the line.

Duke softball wins regular-season ACC title

After a 44-6 record and 20 conference wins, the Duke Blue Devils softball team claimed the ACC regular-season title.

The Blue Devils are your 2024 regular-season ACC softball champions.

After a 44-6 regular season that included 20 wins over conference opponents, the Duke softball team officially clinched the ACC crown on Friday night.

Outside of a doubleheader sweep at the hands of Virginia on April 20, the Blue Devils only lost two ACC games all season. They swept Syracuse, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Clemson, and NC State.

Duke won its final five games of the season, culminating in that three-game sweep of the Wolfpack.

Florida State, whom Duke defeated in a series back in March, could have won the conference title with a sweep of Syracuse this weekend. However, the Orange walked off the Seminoles on Friday afternoon to drop them to 18-4 in ACC play, clinching Duke’s triumph.

The Blue Devils now set their sights on a second conference tournament trophy after Duke took the ACC Tournament title in 2021.

Duke men’s lacrosse places four on All-ACC teams

Duke lacrosse saw four players named All-ACC.

John Danowski’s Blue Devils have entered the month of May, and for Duke lacrosse, this is when things truly matter. Duke’s lacrosse program is held to a higher standard than simply getting to the NCAA Tournament, instead judged by how far they make it and whether they make it to Memorial Day weekend.

That remains to be seen, but the Blue Devils are certainly an NCAA Tournament team, and a big reason why is thanks to the play of their newly minted four All-ACC players.

The ACC office announced the selections for this year’s All-ACC teams, and Duke saw four of them receive honors.

Brennan O’Neill, the superstar attackman, was chosen for his fourth All-ACC team, making him the second player in Duke history to accomplish this feat. Jordan Wolf was the other. He is Duke’s best player on the field and has led the offense with 44 goals and 23 assists for 67 points.

Defenseman Kenny Brower earns his third consecutive honor to join former Blue Devils Tyler Hardy and Cade Van Raaphorst as the only Duke defensemen to garner three conference awards.

Duke’s best midfielder, Andrew McAdorey, earned his first All-ACC team selection. His production hasn’t wavered after bouncing from midfield to attack and, this year, back to the midfield. This season, he has 21 goals and seven assists for 28 points. He has scored at least a point in all 15 games.

Last but not least, Michigan transfer Josh Zawada has acclimated himself to Durham quite well. He came into the program as Michigan’s all-time leader in points and goals and has dominated as a facilitator for Duke this year. He leads the team and is ranked fourth in the ACC for assists.

Duke’s four selections were tied for second most with Virginia. Meanwhile, the ACC regular season champs and the number one team in the country, Notre Dame, had seven selections.

Duke is heading into the ACC Tournament in Charlotte to capture its eighth conference tournament championship. That starts Friday as they take on Syracuse at 8 p.m. The game can be seen on ACC Network.

Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown officially signs with the Blue Devils

Maliq Brown, the Syracuse transfer who committed to Duke on Monday, officially joined the program on Thursday morning.

Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown officially signed with the Blue Devils on Thursday morning, the team announced.

The move makes his commitment from Monday official.

“Maliq is a skilled, tough, and versatile forward who brings a competitive mentality to every game and practice,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said in a statement shared by the team. “Maliq takes pride in doing all the little things that impact winning.”

Brown averaged 9.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game with the Orange last season, and he finished with a field-goal percentage of 69.8% in both of his two Syracuse seasons. He also swiped 2.2 steals and added 0.9 blocks on the defensive end.

His efficiency gets even better with advanced metrics. Brown finished with an effective field-goal percentage of 71.3% last season, according to KenPom. No one else in the ACC finished above 61.8%. His 4.12% steal rate also led the conference.

Brown and former Purdue guard Mason Gillis are the only two transfers who have currently committed to Scheyer and the Blue Devils.

Georgia transfer WR shines in Syracuse spring game

UGA football transfer has long touchdown, standout performance in Syracuse’s spring game

Syracuse Orange wide receiver Yazeed Haynes, a Georgia transfer, stood out in Syracuse’s spring game. Haynes received a team-high 10 targets and hauled in six receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown. Haynes caught a 38-yard touchdown that was one of the Orange’s top plays in their spring game.

Haynes, a former four-star recruit, followed first-year Syracuse head coach Fran Brown from Georgia to Syracuse. Haynes’ explosiveness and route running ability was on full display for the white team.

The redshirt freshman pass catcher elected to transfer to Syracuse during the December window along with several of his Georgia teammates. Haynes is expected to be one of Syracuse’s top receivers this fall.

Here’s a look at his 38-yard touchdown reception:

Former Georgia wide receiver Jackson Meeks also transferred to Syracuse along with offensive tackle Joshua Miller. Fran Brown and Syracuse will have little bit of Dawg in this fall.

BREAKING: Duke lands commitment from Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown

Duke lands it first transfer of the offseason as former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown commits.

After a week of nothing but departures from its program, Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils are finally playing offense in the NCAA transfer portal.

Former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown committed to Duke on Saturday afternoon, per On3 Sports’ Joe Tipton.

Brown, a four-star recruit, spent his first two collegiate seasons in Syracuse, where he played sparingly as a freshman. This past season, as a sophomore, the 6-foot-8 forward started 16 games for the Orange and was their de facto center after an Achilles injury sidelined starter Naheem McLeod for the season. Brown posted 9.5 points and grabbed 7.2 boards per game.

Brown’s game is defense, hustle, and finishing at a high rate around the rim. He shot nearly 70% from the field in both his freshman and sophomore years, and his 71.3% effective field-goal percentage was the highest in the ACC, according to KenPom.

He was an ACC All-Defensive Team nominee this season and led the conference with 2.2 steals per game last year. He’s a high-level athlete who will give Duke versatility as a small-ball five or by playing his natural spot at power forward.

Brown has already shown the Duke staff what he can do, scoring 28 points against Duke in Cameron this past season. Brown started his visit to Duke earlier in the week, and the rest was history. He didn’t visit anywhere else before ultimately committing on Saturday afternoon.

Brown will fill the void left by Mark Mitchell and Sean Stewart’s departures. He also brings another veteran presence and voice to a team that will add six freshmen in the summer and will need a lot of leadership as they attempt to gel.