Motivation wouldn't be a problem, Donte Greene insisted a day prior to Syracuse's 87-81 NIT first round victory over Robert Morris. After all, the last thing this Orange season needed was a little more embarrassment. "You never want to lose a game," Greene said before Monday's practice.
Scoop Jardine knew the question before it was even asked. "The layup," the freshman guard said, flashing a smile. "If I had listened to Coach (Jim Boeheim) we wouldn't be talking about that right now." For Jardine's sake, the missed finger-roll on a wide-open fastbreak with 26 seconds remaining can be laughed off as a silly miscue.
It's safe to say Robert Morris is like no team Syracuse has faced all season. With no starter taller than 6-foot-6 A.J. Jackson - and three guards shorter than 6-foot-1 - the Colonials present a unique look for a Big East team used to matching up against giants.
Dowayne Davis and Joe Fields, former defensive backfield mates for Syracuse, did not receive an invitation to February's NFL Scout Combine. Their chance to impress NFL scouts was Tuesday in the Carrier Dome in the university's annual Pro Day workouts for SU senior prospects and other senior standouts from New York schools.
Resiliency is a word often thrown around when describing championship-caliber teams in almost any sport. Up until Sunday this word could not be used to describe Syracuse in its five previous games this season. That changed with a 16-13 overtime win over No.
John Vaughan resisted the temptation. Despite being a long-tenured football coach in Western Pennsylvania, Vaughan held his sons out of football until he felt they were old enough to really want to play. But Vaughan made sure his sons did participate in one sport: wrestling.
