College basketball is back and this year will mark Adrian Autry's first season as head coach of the Syracuse men's basketball team taking the reigns from Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim. Autry said he is confident in his team ahead of the upcoming basketball season.
"Guys have been really competing, putting our work in on everything on both ends of the floor," Autry said. "Off the floor team events, things like that, just building the chemistry within the team with the newcomers and our returning players. It's definitely been an exciting time for us as we prepare to embark on this new season."
Syracuse was known for zone defense under the leadership of Coach Boeheim. But Autry said this season they'll be playing some man to man defense.
The team features some new faces like Baldwinsville native and Notre Dame transfer JJ Starling and returning players like Judah Mintz who considered entering the NBA Draft but chose to return for his sophomore season. Autry said he's known Starling since he was 7 years old playing basketball with Autry's son, saying having him on the team felt like a reunion.
"I think we got a nice mix of young guys," Autry said. "We're not an old team by any stretch of the imagination. I think we'll have a little bit of continuity, which is pretty hard to have in athletics. But I think we have that. And I think we'll be able to continue to build on that. I think it starts this year. But I'm very confident in this group of guys that we have right now to get us started going forward."
The men will play an exhibition vs Daemon on Friday, October 27 at 7 p.m. at the JMA Wireless Dome.
