To have fun SLAM’s thirtieth anniversary, we’re spotlighting the 30 most influential males’s school groups from our previous 30 years. Stats, data and chips aren’t the principle issue right here, it’s all about their contribution to the sport’s cultural material.
For the following 30 days—Monday by Friday— we’ll be unveiling the full record right here. We’ve additionally received an unique retro collegiate assortment, out now, that pays homage to every squad’s threads. Store right here.
An orange headband-donning megastar, Carmelo Anthony. The teaching genius of Jim Boeheim and a trademark 2-3 zone protection. The ‘03 Syracuse Orangemen at all times had what it took to be the very best crew within the nation.
However nobody actually noticed it that approach. Not till they did the unattainable, in fact.
Syracuse went into the 2002-03 season unranked and by no means reached the highest 10 throughout the common season. However with a mix of favor, resilience, and sheer willpower, they hoisted the primary nationwide championship trophy in program historical past, etching their names alongside a protracted line of NCAA match champions.
Led by Jim Boeheim, the second-winningest coach in NCAA males’s basketball historical past, Syracuse embraced their trademark 2-3 zone protection, a maneuver that left opponents casting threes and followers dripping in orange paint roaring in pleasure on the quick break. Boeheim’s strategic acumen and skill to adapt his recreation plan to his crew’s strengths had been the pillars on which the success of this historic Syracuse crew can be constructed.
That isn’t to say that the squad was nothing greater than only a revolutionary defensive scheme. It was the management of Kueth Duany, the second senior on the crew. It was Gerry McNamara, a sharp-eyed sniper from behind the arc. And it was Anthony whose gravity-defying dunks and iso-shooting mesmerized all school basketball followers alike.
The freshman sensation hauled Orange County to the nationwide highlight as quickly as he stepped foot onto the sprawling upstate campus. At 18 years outdated, Melo had all of it—the self-confidence, the fearlessness, the stuff that separates good from nice.
With a stellar regular-season document of 24-5, together with a Massive East regular-season title, the Orange stormed into the NCAA Match with a chip on their shoulder and a starvation to show everybody unsuitable.
Beginning their marketing campaign in Boston, Cuse cruised previous Manhattan and Oklahoma State within the first two rounds. The No. 3 seed then traveled as much as New York, the place they survived a slim one-point win towards Auburn and took down Oklahoma to achieve the Closing 4.
At any time when the Orangemen discovered themselves in bother, they turned to the crew’s jab-stepping, bucket-getting savior: Carmelo Anthony. The Brooklyn, N.Y. native labored his magic in isolation en path to a 20-point double-double within the Elite Eight. After which he went nuclear within the Closing 4, exploding for 33 factors and 14 boards.
Finally, the crew’s season got here down to 1 recreation: the nationwide championship showdown towards the No. 6 Kansas Jayhawks. In a back-and-forth battle for the ages, the Orange dug deep, drawing on each ounce of grit and willpower they possessed to stroll away with an 81-78 triumph. (Substitute with above? – The stage was set for a nationwide championship showdown towards the No. 6 Kansas Jayhawks. The Orange stamped the mardi gras-colored court docket with an electrical show. McNamara was scintillating within the first half, flattening six treys, whereas the rising legend of No. 15 was cemented with a 21-point efficiency. With Hakim Warrick’s game-sealing block, a vibrant sea of orange erupted as a pile of gamers in orange unis and warmups cascaded at half court docket.
In a back-and-forth battle for the ages, the Orange had secured their first-ever NCAA Championship behind the match’s Most Excellent Participant, Carmelo Anthony.)
Earlier than they knew it, the freshman-heavy squad of Orangemen would quickly enhance headlines, magazines and partitions at Syracuse College—and their legacy nonetheless lingers on campus.
Pictures through Getty Photographs.
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