Checking in on Syracuse basketball’s 2024 transfers

With just five weeks until the start of March Madness, Syracuse’s at-large hopes have completely evaporated. On top of that, the Orange are barely holding onto their ACC Tournament spot, sitting 14th in the conference.

This disappointing second season has put head coach Adrian Autry in a tough position. As his tenure faces mounting scrutiny, it’s time to, once again, check in on some players who left the program following his first season.

Maliq Brown made a very smooth transition into Duke’s program. He has proved to be a very effective and integral defensive piece off the bench. Unfortunately, in a game against Notre Dame on Jan. 11, Brown suffered a sprained right knee. This injury kept him sidelined for three weeks. He returned to action on Feb. 1 against UNC. The forward picked up where he left off, continuing to be a source of consistent rim protection.

He has maintained an otherworldly defensive rating of 84.3, while swatting away a shot a game. Moreover, he is carrying an 8.6 DBPM which more than doubles his conference leading 4.0 from last season.

The Per 100 possessions stats is where Brown really starts to jump off the page. He averages 15.0 rebounds and 5.5 steals per 100 possessions. The junior takes full advantage when he’s on the court and earned the title of “defensive menace” from head coach Jon Scheyer.

On the season, Brown is averaging 18 minutes per game, but as the season has progressed, he has seen a boost in playing time, averaging just about 20 minutes per game in the back half of the season.

In watching this year’s Syracuse team, it is evident that Brown is exactly the type of player they need. As the No. 2 ranked Duke starts to gear itself up for a deep run in March, Maliq Brown’s energy and defensive tenacity will be invaluable in pursuit of the program’s 6th National Championship.

Justin Taylor has had a disappointing season in his new threads. After seemingly getting run out of Syracuse by negative fan reviews, Taylor decided to return home and play for the Dukes.

Despite this, Taylor has yet to attain any semblance of rhythm on the court. As the season has progressed, he has seen less and less time on the court. On season he is averaging 10.4 minutes per game, but in his last 8 games this number has fallen to 6.3.

As the end of the season is fastly approaching there is a race in the Sunbelt. JMU, along with four other teams, sit a game back of first place in the conference. What this drop in minutes shows is that the team does not see any value in playing him, especially as the game pressure starts to ramp up.

At Syracuse, there was the idea of Taylor being the reliable sharpshooter, he shot 39.3% from 3 his freshman season. He took a step back with the aptly named sophomore slump. Since joining JMU, however, he has yet to make a 3. Not only has he not made one, but he has also only attempted 4, the last time he shot one was Christmas.

He finished last season shooting 83 3s total. While at Syracuse, Taylor showed no other offensive ability than streaky shooting, so if he is not willing to shoot, then there really isn’t any reason to have him on the court. His OBPM is a -5.7, and his PER is 8, nearly half the national average.

Quadir Copeland has certainly found his fit with McNeese State. All season McNeese has dominated the southland conference with a record of 19-6 (13-1). They are on track to receive a 12-seed bid to the NCAA Tournament and are currently projected to take on Ole Miss in the first round.

Copelands’ box score stats are almost identical to his stats from last season. But McNeese has allowed Copeland to maintain a sustainable level of play and has not relied on him to be the impact player as he was towards the end of his final season at Syracuse.

Copeland has become a key role player rather than a key starter. He is averaging 21.3 minutes per game while shooting 50% from the field and averaging 4.2 assists (third in Southland).

With less pressure on the offensive end, Copeland has been able to dedicate more energy on the other end of the court. With this added focus he has been able to maintain a Drtg of 94.9, the lowest of his career.

Offensively, the guard has cut his 3-point attempts in half, shooting just under 2 per game. Night in and night out he is making an impact at the line, shooting 9.1 free throws per game.

Copeland recently broke into the starting lineup and his production has not flattered in any way, helping the Cowboys win 14 of their last 15. It will be interesting to see how Copeland will make his mark during March Madness.

Benny Williams and UCF have hit a wall since the last time we checked-in on them.

They sit at 13-11 and rank 14th in the Big 12. This is a very disappointing outcome considering they started off 9-2, but the Big 12 is a competitive conference, and they have dropped five straight.

Williams came out of the gate firing, and seemed to instantly mesh with his hometown team, but he has faced a stark decline in production. His Fg% is still up 6% from last season, but is down 5% from earlier in the season, sitting at 46.2%. His points are down 33% and his minutes per game have fallen to 13.8.

As of late his playing time has become more inconsistent which signifies that he is not getting cut much slack in terms of in-game performance. The biggest cause for concern has been his defensive output.

This season, his Drtg is 110.0, which is the highest of his career. Williams has shrunken in the face of the offensive prowess of Big 12 teams like Houston, Iowa State, and Arizona.

There have been a few positives for the senior. For one, he seems to like his team, which on a personal level is always a good thing.

Statistically, he has seen a healthy boost to his True Shooting % which is now 49.5%, and he has played in every UCF game this season. The senior does not have another year of eligibility, so this seems to be the end of the road for Williams and his basketball career.

Peter Carey followed former Syracuse coach and legend, Gerry McNamara, to Siena.

In their debut season, they have achieved a record of 11-13. This is not too bad of year one considering Siena went 4-28 last season.

As for Carey, he has fared well in his first season seeing real and consistent minutes. He has received 15.2 minutes per game and has taken advantage.

The sophomore is scoring just under 6 points per game with a field goal percentage of 62.9. Carey had the best game of his collegiate career in early January against Manhattan college.

In the 2OT win, Carey played 39 minutes and scored a career high 21 points, along with grabbing 8 rebounds.

As for the rest of the season, he has maintained a respectable box-plus/minus of 0.9 and has achieved a PER of 21.7 which is notable in any conference.

Siena and the MAAC have seemed to remain an all-around positive fit for Carey.

As he heads into the back-half of his collegiate career, it will be interesting to see if he grows into a true glass-cleaning center, as well as how he grows with McNamara.

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