Men's Basketball

Syracuse basketball practice: Paschal Chukwu and other Tuesday observations

Jesse Dougherty | Web Editor

Syracuse held practice at the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center. The Orange begins its season on Nov. 13 against Lehigh in the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse held practice on Tuesday afternoon at the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center. The Orange tips off the regular season Nov. 13 against Lehigh at the Carrier Dome. Here are three observations from practice, including notes on transfer Paschal Chukwu, the scholarship freshmen and assistant coach Mike Hopkins coaching in a neck brace.

Tall man

The Providence transfer isn’t eligible for the 2015-16 season, but he’s hard to miss. Chukwu, standing a towering 7 feet 2 inches, is the tallest player in Syracuse basketball history. Oftentimes when guards drove to the rim, Chukwu waited on the opposite block and a soft lob and thunderous slam would follow.

In a full-court drill, Chukwu chased down freshman walk-on Shaun Belbey on a breakaway and pinned the ball against the backboard, his momentum knocking Belbey well out of bounds. Head coach Jim Boeheim stopped practice and began smiling as he walked to the foul line. Laughing, he asked Belbey how tall he was, to which he responded “5-9,” as Boeheim smirked and resumed practice.

Boeheim stressed with Chukwu to hold the ball high, but noted that the sophomore has 13 months to figure it out. It’ll be that long until he suits up for the Orange, with just flashes in practice previewing what’s to come until then.



Fresh meat

Malachi Richardson, SU’s highest-ranked scholarship freshman, flashed potential from 3-point range and attacking the rim, similar to 6-foot-8 freshman Tyler Lydon’s ability to step out behind the arc and also bang on the low block.

Frank Howard, the third of the trio of scholarship freshmen, had some trouble getting open on the wing and keeping ball-handlers in front of him atop the zone, but knocked down his fair share of 3s as well.

On the hop

Hopkins bumped his chest up against DaJuan Coleman to simulate contact down low before a drill resumed. He stood atop the 3-point arc while running a drill with the big men, swinging the ball around the key. Before practice started, he galloped to the sideline, speaking in a British accent to athletic communications representative Pete Moore.

After a body surfing accident that caused a non-severe injury, per Syracuse.com, the assistant coach has been in a neck brace, but it didn’t restrict his activity at practice.

Hopkins, who works primarily with the big men, has a season ahead that includes working with a finally healthy Coleman and potentially serving as head coach for the first nine games of conference play.





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