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Syracuse freshmen Kamilla Cardoso and Priscilla Williams both were named to ESPN’s Newcomer Impact List on Monday ahead of the 2020-21 season. The list recognizes the top 50 best incoming freshmen and transfers in women’s basketball.

For the Orange, it’s another reminder of the potential within its No. 4 recruiting class in the country. Cardoso is the fifth-best recruit in her class, which has the highest ranking in program history. Williams isn’t far behind at No. 9 overall. No other program has more than one freshman in the top 10. The two freshmen will look to help SU improve upon a 16-15 record a year ago, the program’s worst finish since 2006-07.

Cardoso, a 6-foot-7 center, was named the seventh-most impactful newcomer in the country. She profiles to become the centerpiece of SU’s 2-3 zone alongside former five-star forwards Emily Engstler and Digna Strautmane and former five-star center Amaya Finklea-Guity.

“(Cardoso’s) really picked up on what we’re doing,” head coach Quentin Hillsman said via Zoom on Oct 20. “When you have freshmen come in, it’s gonna be their ability to load all the information and actually do it. And she’s been doing a really good job of that.”

Williams, the sixth-best guard in her class, was named the 22nd-best newcomer in the country. At 6-foot-2, she’s already the tallest guard on the Orange roster. The Missouri native is now a part of a backcourt featuring two former All-Atlantic Coast first-team selections in redshirt senior Kiara Lewis and fifth-year Tiana Mangakahia — finally cleared after missing all of last season while battling Stage 2 breast cancer.

“It’s our expectation to be deep,” Hillsman said, “To be able to play fast, and get into pressure and play the way we need to play.”

The new depth must bring not only speed but also efficiency. Syracuse’s possessions per 40 minutes has been at the top of the ACC in recent seasons. But without Mangakahia last year, the Orange’s points per 100 possessions fell 15 points fewer than SU’s mark of 104 in 2018, per HerHoopStats.

Scoring is not an issue for either of SU’s recently-heralded newcomers. Cardoso averaged 24.1 points per game in her senior year while leading Hamilton Heights Christian (Tennessee) Academy to a No. 8 ranking in the country. Williams averaged 27 points in her final season with Branson (Missouri) high school, often outscoring opposing teams all by herself, per OzarkSportsZone.com.

The freshmen are a big reason Syracuse was ranked No. 23 in ESPN’s “Way-Too-Early” Top 25 back on Sept. 28. Mangakahia said she “almost likes” that ranking because it gives SU the underdog mentality to go into the season and “prove a lot of people wrong,” per Sports Illustrated’s Steven Shoemaker.

The Orange haven’t been in the AP Top 25 poll since the first week of December 2019. SU now has the weapons and depth to reestablish itself as one of the nation’s top teams. Syracuse’s 2021 recruiting class is ranked 11th in the country, headlined by another lengthy big in 6-foot-4 forward Latasha Lattimore, the No. 38 recruit in her class.

With increased expectations surrounding this year’s team — hinged on Mangakahia’s return and the immediate impact of Cardoso, Williams and the rest of the 2020 class — Hillsman isn’t concerned.

“If you don’t have that pressure you’re not going in the right direction,” Hillsman said. “So I welcome the pressure, I welcome the expectations.”

Published on October 26, 2020 at 10:53 pm

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