Mike, what do you make of Boeheim's comments that he won't want more than 11 players? Even if Buddy, Jimmy, and Cole all leave, we very well could have six returning players plus the five freshmen. Holding to 11 means two new starters either from the freshmen or Symir. I've long assumed we would get at least one starter from the portal. Hard to see having so much faith in the freshmen's ability to step right in and start.
And put me in the mildly disappointed group when I first heard of Jimmy maybe coming back. I like him and he is the scorer we would have to look for in the portal, but we need to get back to being a quick athletic team that can play the zone like we used to, covering the court, defending the rim, trapping and creating turnovers and runouts. I'm ok with one defender who isn't well suited for the zone but we already have Girard. Not happy with the thought that both Jimmy and Cole could be back, neither is right for the zone and it's shown in the downturn in our defensive performance this year, and that's with the much-improved defense at center. They're not going to get quicker next year or become rim protectors. I'd be very happy with a returning Buddy because he's so good offensively.