He’s never played a game at Syracuse, but Tyler Ennis is already viewed as the Orange’s star in the backcourt.

He will be expected to be the team’s starting point guard this season. And as a five-star recruit, he will likely be asked to carry an inexperienced group of guards.

But he’s also unknown to some of the most intense SU followers. He starred with the Canadian national team and at St. Benedict Prep in Newark, N.J., but the excitement is limited to Internet stat lines and highlight reels.

It’s one of the beauties of being freshmen — the untainted talent — but also one of its perils. No one really knows what they’re getting, not even some of Ennis’ teammates.

“This is pretty much my first time I’ve seen them,” forward C.J. Fair said before Syracuse’s first practice Thursday. “This is going to be the first time I actually get a feel of the freshmen and how they play.”

The Orange’s four-game, four-day exhibition trip through Canada will give Fair and the Orange fans their first taste of live-game action from three of SU’s freshmen: Ennis, Ron Patterson and B.J. Johnson. Fair has been practicing with them since Thursday, but when Syracuse faces McGill University on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Montreal, it will be a chance to start building an on-court relationship with the newest names on the Orange’s roster.

“We’re going to have a lot of new guys out there on the court,” Fair said. “We want to be able to play as a unit right from the first game. I think it’s going to help not just the freshmen, but the whole.”

SU will face Bishop’s University in Saint-Lambert, Quebec, at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Carleton University at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in Ottawa, Ontario, before finishing the tour with a 7 p.m. game against Ottawa University on Saturday in Ottawa.

Fair spent the bulk of his summer at home in Baltimore, so the Canada trip actually cut into his vacation. Baye Moussa Keita has been in Syracuse working with the freshmen after returning from an early-summer trip home to Senegal.

Keita had the chance to play and work out with the freshmen before Thursday’s practice, so he had a better idea of what they bring to the table.

“They’re really talented,” Keita said. “They’re really hard workers. We’ve been working out at 6 in the morning every day, Monday through Friday. I’ve been here on the weekend and they’ve been here too, so they’re really hard workers.”

With a rigorous nonconference schedule that includes games against Indiana, Villanova and a trip to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational, this Canada trip gives the Orange a chance to ease the transition into the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Ennis will be relied on heavily after SU lost its two starting guards from last season in Michael Carter-Williams and Brandon Triche. Transfer forward Michael Gbinije and reserve sophomore guard Trevor Cooney will eat the bulk of the minutes at shooting guard.

So, as Fair said, it’s not just a trip for the freshmen. It’s a trip to learn the identity of the new-look Syracuse team. Despite the losses, though, the Orange is viewed as one of the favorites in the ACC.

With four games in four days against quality teams – a format usually only seen in conference tournaments or AAU play – SU will be thrown into the fire with an opportunity to get a leg up on the season.

“It’s four games against good teams,” Fair said. “We want to go up there and play our best.”

Published on August 20, 2013 at 9:55 pm

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