While numerous star players have come and gone, one thing at Syracuse University [13] has remained constant: head coach Jim Boeheim.
Boeheim walked onto SU's campus as a freshman in 1963 and has been there ever since. In his candid autobiography, Bleeding Orange: Fifty Years of Blind Referees, Screaming Fans, Beasts of the East, and Syracuse Basketball, the 39-year head coach reflects on his time at Syracuse and the game he loves.
In the book, Boeheim talks about the massive shift that has taken place in college recruiting. Although he still enjoys finding new talent each year, he must now deal with more and more players leaving campus early to pursue a professional career.
In his first 31 seasons at the helm of Syracuse, only three players left early (including Carmelo Anthony in 2003). But over the past eight years, 11 Orange players have declared for the pros early. Four of those have been "one-and-done" players that bolted for the NBA [14] after their rookie seasons on The Hill.
Boeheim says the key is to be aware of potential one-and-dones and accordingly plan to make sure there's enough talent on the depth chart to take their place.
While the Orange has remained an elite team on the court, reaching the Final Four as recently as 2013, the numbers suggest players who leave early struggle at the next level.
