The average height of Syracuse’s six walk-ons is exactly 6-foot. The outlier: Antonio Balandi. The 6-foot-6 big man has been tasked with pushing, boxing out and trying to alter the shots of 7-foot-2 center Paschal Chukwu in practice before Chukwu faces the rigors of ACC frontcourts.

Balandi, who was born in Chad, offers size and strength on the scout team as one of SU’s four players born outside of the United States. He’s lived in Chad, Mauritania, Niger, Nepal and Burkina Faso throughout his life and learned to dunk in the eighth grade. After growing into a star for Syracuse’s nationally-ranked men’s club basketball team, the fifth-year senior is completing his first year as a walk-on with the Syracuse men’s basketball team (18-9, 9-5 Atlantic Coast).

“He really has done a great job,” said SU head coach Jim Boeheim, a former walk-on guard himself. “Every day he works hard. He’s a pretty big, strong guy. He has really helped our team, and he’s a great, great kid.”

His focus is to uplift players from the team bench. He’s one of the first to cheer teammates and pat them on the back when they come off the court during timeouts. In practice, he’s earned the bulk of his respect from players and coaches by doing one job: “Give Paschal (Chukwu) and Bourama (Sidibe) a hard time,” he said.

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Because his father works for the United Nations, Balandi spent most of his childhood on the move. As a teenager, he saw the Himalayas from his bedroom in Nepal. He lived in Niger, Central Africa, and ran track, played basketball and tennis. He applied to Syracuse because a teacher told him it was a quality university with a historic basketball program. Maybe, he’d try to walk-on.

When Balandi arrived in central New York four and a half years ago, he tried out for the men’s basketball team. He weighed 180 pounds. In a three-on-three game in front of associate head coach Adrian Autry, he recalled being pushed around by the other tryouts, and he didn’t make the team.

So Balandi settled on the club team, where he became their star. Club players called him a “beast,” who cleaned up inside and threw down monstrous dunks. In one game, he had 10 blocks.

In the fall of 2017, he met Sidibe, and the two became friends. Both are from countries in Africa. Both speak French. And both fit the forward position at 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-10, respectively. More than a year ago, they grabbed Chipotle on Marshall Street and discussed their journeys to SU and basketball. Sidibe took him to team practices to work out and shoot around.

After some time, SU assistant head coach Allen Griffin noticed Balandi’s talent. He thought Balandi could fit into the frontcourt as a reserve. In Balandi, Griffin saw instinct, strength and basketball skill. The player who’d gotten cut from tryouts years prior had put himself in position to earn a walk-on spot. “You should be on the team,” Balandi remembers Griffin telling him last summer, after a workout.

“He’s been a great addition to our group,” Griffin said in December. “Especially because he knows the guys, and he’s a bigger guy who can beat these guys up every day in practice.”

On his first-ever possession in practice, Balandi was guarding Chukwu. The walk-on was blindsided by a down screen, and Chukwu caught an alley-oop pass for a slam dunk. Balandi’s progressed since then, sometimes scoring on Chukwu with post moves. He’s altered Chukwu’s shots, and he’s tried to push him out of the lane.

Over the course of his lone year with Syracuse, Balandi’s played in nine games for a total of 10 minutes — with one career block and zero points. Balandi understands his role isn’t glamorous, but he knows it’s important.

“(Balandi) brings energy, physicality and height close to what our bigs will see in the game,” said SU senior point guard Frank Howard. “He simulates the game and goes hard for us every day. We love ‘Ton.’ He’s a vital piece to the whole scheme.”

Published on March 6, 2019 at 10:49 pm

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