In the spirit of New Year's resolutions, here's what I want from the Orange.
When the Syracuse Orange men's basketball team takes on Clemson on Wednesday afternoon at the JMA Wireless Dome, it will mark the final game for the program in the calendar year 2025.
The Orange enter that contest at 9-4 overall while the Tigers are 10-3. Syracuse is looking to put together a strong Atlantic Coast Conference season as they try to get to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2020-21.
And as the calendar gets ready to flip to 2026, we have three main resolutions and goals for the program:
1) Improve the free-throw shooting
This is an obvious one, isn't it? The Orange enter play on Wednesday at 59 percent from the line, which is tied for last (365th) in the entire country.
Simply put, you aren't going to win many games if you can't connect at the line, especially in conference play. As the games get tighter and the competition gets better, the margin for error drastically decreases. Syracuse has already been burned in an overtime loss against Houston by going 12-of-29 at the foul line; they have to improve there as the year turns.
On the positive side of things? Naithan George is 17-of-21 over his last two games at the charity stripe. If he's able to keep playing better and able to keep getting to the line, he's shown the ability to deliver.
Also: Donnie Freeman returns to the lineup on Wednesday. Though he's played just four games, he's 77.8 percent from the foul line. He went 12-of-14 in his last game against Monmouth. His presence should help as well.
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2) Continued growth from underclassmen
The Orange give valuable minutes to three underclassmen, including freshmen Kiyan Anthony and Sadiq White Jr., as well as sophomore Tyler Betsey.
All three players have important skillsets, with White providing excellent athleticism and rebounding, Anthony providing good playmaking and scoring, and Betsey able to knock down shots from three-point range.
The problem? The same as the problem for most young players: Inconsistency. If Adrian Autry can start to get consistent performances from the trio, that will go a long way toward giving SU a deeper lineup.
3) Make the fans excited again
Whether it's the mediocre play, the soft home non-conference schedule, the bad weather or a combination of all three, the JMA Wireless Dome just hasn't been the same this season.
Per Syracuse.com:
Syracuse has had announced crowds of fewer than 14,000 people for five straight games. That hasn’t happened since the team moved into the JMA Wireless (previously Carrier) Dome.
Syracuse.com men’s basketball reporter Mike Waters recently went through SU’s men’s basketball record book and found just one previous three-game stretch in which Syracuse had dome crowds below 14,000.
That happened in the first year of the Carrier Dome, which was the 1980-81 season.
Here's to hoping that the Orange play a fun brand of basketball in 2026 that makes the arena feel like one of the best home-court advantages in college hoops again.
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