The Syracuse basketball team returns all five starters from the beginning of last season. It has two Wooden Award candidates. And it has six players from the 2003 National Championship team (three of whom were starters). Despite all this, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim puts a lot of stock in his sophomore class.

At Syracuse’s annual Media Day on Oct. 15, Boeheim said his team’s success hinges on how well the quartet of Louie McCroskey, Demetris Nichols, Terrence Roberts and Darryl Watkins develops, though none of the four is assured a starting role.

‘The focus of our team, and how much better we’ll be, will be the sophomore class,’ Boeheim said. ‘How well those four sophomores play is going to really determine if we’re better or not.’

Boeheim will get his first look at his sophomores against the competition tonight as Syracuse takes on Le Moyne at 7 in the Carrier Dome. It’s the first of two exhibition games for the 2004-2005 season.

Boeheim knows his starting five can match any team in the Big East, but games will be won or lost by the bench players. Though Nichols started 15 games last season after Billy Edelin left the team, he will most likely come off the bench because of Edelin’s reinstatement and the preseason play of freshman Josh Wright.

Coming in as freshmen following the 2003 championship season, a lot was expected of the group. Roberts, the spokesman for the ‘Fab Four,’ as he called them, didn’t help matters.

Last September, as the group prepared for its first collegiate season, Roberts said there were ‘four Carmelo Anthonys’ in the freshman class, turning high expectations into impossible ones.

A year stronger and a year wiser, Roberts still exudes the same confidence, but now he chooses his words more carefully.

‘I’m definitely as confident this year,’ Roberts said. ‘I’m just more willing and understanding of what I have to do this year.

‘I felt as if I could’ve played a lot better (last year). I was anxious to get things done and I was so hyped, I think it kinda took away from my game.’

Roberts played nine minutes per game in the 26 contests he appeared in last season. He is still behind senior Hakim Warrick at power forward on the depth chart, but Roberts’ inside presence coupled with the emergence of Warrick’s perimeter game could earn him more playing time.

‘Personally, I don’t see myself as a sixth guy,’ Roberts said. ‘I see myself in the starting lineup. I never want to come out. I never want to see myself as a sixth man. I’m gonna try as hard as I can even if I’m competing with my best friend.’

Watkins should also see more time with the departure of Jeremy McNeil. The center filled out his 6-foot-11 frame this summer and will be called on to back up senior Craig Forth.

‘We feel he’s ready,’ Boeheim said. ‘We feel the only reason he didn’t play more last year is because we had a senior (McNeil) and a junior (Forth) in his position.’

Whatever the starting five is, the sophomores will give Syracuse one of the best eight-man rotations in the country.

‘They better bring it. You don’t have time to relax around here anymore,’ assistant coach Mike Hopkins said. ‘When you have a year under your belt and you know what to expect and you know how it is to come off the bench, it’s a huge advantage.’

Published on November 1, 2004 at 12:00 pm