APRIL 10, 2009– The Syracuse Orange are going to have a new look next year. Smiling sophomore superstar Jonny Flynn, ladies’ man Eric Devendorf and budding musical artist Paul Harris have all announced plans to test the tepid waters of the NBA draft.
As for getting his tandem of stars to stick around, long-time Orange coach Jim Boeheim didn’t do much convincing. He may have even played a key role in convincing them to leave. With three highly regarded recruits arriving in the fall, the Orange will be over the scholarship limit of 13. Either someone had to leave, or a new recruit would have to play without a scholarship. Boeheim isn’t about to let a recruit walk out the door. Partially leading to this scholarship is the fact that Devendorf, all received medical red shirts, causing each of their scholarship to extend a year more than expected.
Boeheim summed up his advice to Flynn: “He’d have to be top-10,” Boeheim said. “He came in and wants to stay, and I do think he’ll come back unless he’s fairly high.” He recommends that Flynn go through a few pre-draft workouts to get a true feeling of where he might go. Despite playing with the Orange for just two seasons, Flynn ranks seventh in career assists at Syracuse with 439 dimes handed out.
Fox Sports’ Jeff Goodman reports that Harris and Devendorf “came to a mutual decision with Orange coach Jim Boeheim” about leaving school for the draft. Both players forego one year of eligibility after experiencing their share of issues on and off the court. There’s no question either player is as polished as an NBA team would like, and not surprisingly a recent mock draft conducted by DraftExpress has neither player going in the first or second round. They predict Jonny Flynn going 15th in the first round to the Pistons, though there’s a good chance he ends up a lottery pick.
Making their decision to leave a little easier, both the neck-tatted Devendorf and the thug-life living Harris have children to support. The money they stand to make, even if they don’t make an NBA roster, offers enough incentive to take the leap into post-college waters. Playing in Europe will pay better than staying in college, after all.
Devendorf is getting his degree this year, and staying another year would mean taking additional classes, something hard for his tatted head to fathom, I’m sure. Devo stands at 14th on the list of Syracuse all-time scorers. If he played another season, he could pass Lawrence Moten to become SU’s all-time scorer by averaging 17 points a game. There’s no doubt Cuse will miss his shooting and scoring ability next year. Something that won’t be missed is his rap sheet and stance on women’s rights.
The braided Junior Harris has amassed 1,253 points in his three seasons in logging 107 games, 72 of those as a starter. The muscular Harris ranks ninth on Syracuse’s all-time list with 28 double doubles. This past season saw him average 12 points and 8.1 rebounds, as he was rarely the first scoring option with Flynn and Devo driving to the hoop.
As for the school’s former scholarship crunch, which appears to be no longer crunched, there had been speculation that reserve center Sean Williams may transfer to another school, freeing up a scholarship. The trio of ‘Cuse players leaving doesn’t open up a spot in the rotation, and it has yet to be seen if the departure of Belgian forward Kristof Ongenaet, the Orange’s lone senior last year, will open up any playing time for Williams. Last year the blue-collar Ongenaet played key minutes spelling steadily-improving Arinze Onuaku and foul-magnet Rick Jackson.
The forward-thinking Boeheim thinks very highly of his incoming recruits. He said Iowa State transfer Wesley Johnson is a “great player and he could be first-team all-league. He’s really good, really explosive.” Boeheim also think highly on shooting guard Brandon Triche out of Dewitt, NY. Andy Rautins and Onuaku will become key pieces to next year’s team, but returning to a Top 25 ranking won’t be easy without everything that Devendorf, Flynn and Harris brought to the court.
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