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Syracuse adds point guard grad transfer

John Gillon

Colorado State’s John Gillon (4) shoots against Fresno State during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals at the Mountain West Conference men’s tournament Friday, March 11, 2016, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)

AP

Syracuse landed a commitment from Colorado State grad transfer John Gillon over the weekend, a potentially critical piece for the Orange next season. He’ll be eligible immediately for his senior season.

Jim Boeheim’s club lost a lot in their back court this offseason. Trevor Cooney and Michael Gbinije both graduated, Kaleb Joseph transferred out of the program and there’s no guarantee that Malachi Richardson will withdraw his name from NBA Draft consideration.

Assuming Richardson does return, he’ll be joined in the back court by Franklin Howard and Tyus Battle, none of whom are point guards. That’s where Gillon’s addition matters. He averaged 13.2 points and 3.9 assists for the Rams last season and is certainly a guy with the quickness to get into the lane and make plays.

Gillon, who is 6-foot-0, is not a pure point guard like, say, a Tyler Ennis. He’s going to attack. He’s going to put the ball on the floor. He’s going to try and get fouled or draw an extra defender, and he’s not always going to be doing so out of a ball-screen action; last year, Syracuse’s offensive attack was centered abour Gbinije’s ability in ball-screens. As one Mountain West coach put it, “he doesn’t have a point guard mentality from a leadership standpoint and a complete demand of the game,” referring to Gillon as more of a combo-guard than a facilitator.

In other words, it will be interesting to see how Gillon’s skill-set fits, but the bottom-line is that Syracuse added a talented, veteran ball-handler to their back court, and that’s something that the Orange really needed.