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See Yesterday's Syracuse Stars Of Tomorrow Who Never Were Today!

The weirdest thing to me about the whole Syracuse Raging Bullz debacle was that the owner didn't seem to actively recruit former Orange players. I don't care if they fielded a team that went undefeated and won the league title in one year, they still wouldn't have drawn as much as if they the roster was full of former SU greats and even not-so-greats.

He wouldn't even have had to look very far to find them. They're all there...in Utica.


The King of Kings Life Development League, which sounds like it should be a Christian work-release program for prisoners, is actually a summer basketball league in Utica that's catching on with the locals. The league, founded by Doneilous King, is all about harnessing the local talent and resources to provide some entertainment and opportunities.
"We have very good players from all different levels," King said. "We have high schoolers, junior college players, Division III and Division II guys, ex-Division I players, overseas professionals and a couple guys who had short stints in the NBA."
The league consists of ten teams and is populated with players familiar to just about any basketball fan in Upstate New York, including those in the Syracuse area.
Proctor star and three-year guard at Syracuse Josh Wright (right) plays on the Utica-based Da Bombers. Lazarus Sims, who led the 1996 Syracuse team to the NCAA Championship game, is part of Syracuse’s Prestige Elite team. Billy Edelin and DaShawn Wright, members of the Albany-based Allah Born team, round out the King of Kings’ Orange foursome.
It's a veritable Who's Who of former Syracuse players who you thought fell off the face of the Earth. Nope, they just relocated to Oneida County.

So where's everybody else? Surely Winifred Walton, LaSean Howard, Bobby Lazor and Rock Lloyd aren't busy. My dream of a traveling All-SU alumni team inches closer to reality...


If you're like me, you've noticed a bit of a religious slant to the proceedings I mean, the name of the league is King of Kings for Chrissake (sorry!). And Edelin and Wright play for a team called "Allah Born?" The article conveniently leaves out the religious aspects of the league but I think it's clearly part of the motivation. Just let me know what time the Temple Beth Israel Slammaz play.