Syracuse Daily Links - Southerland, Rak & Devo Playing In King of Kings

JD's Finest -- featuring Syracuse's Triche, Coleman and Carter-Williams (?) -- debuts in King of Kings summer basketball league | syracuse.com
Doneilious King promised James Southerland and Rakeem Christmas for Wednesday; he offered Eric Devendorf, Josh Wright and Demetris Nichols (on a team called 99 Problems) for Wednesday too. Those games will be played at Utica College. After that, the league shifts to Utica Notre Dame High School for the duration of the summer season. (A note of caution, too: Often, SU players' summer schedules conflict with the King of Kings League and preclude them from showing up for every game.)

Syracuse Orange hoops stars shine at Utica's King of Kings Tournament : Sports : CNYcentral.com
The "J-D's finest" team features three Orange players in Jamesville-Dewitt alums DaJuan Coleman, Brandon Triche, and their Orange teammate Michael Carter-Williams. The trio won their first game of the summer, 73-60 on Monday night, but more importantly it's providing the fans, and the players themselves a "preview", as Carter-Williams called it, of the 2012-2013 SU season.

Big East Football: Quarterbacks Rankings
Just by looking at his numbers, Nassib had a very successful 2011 season. He set career highs in passing yards, completion percentage and touchdowns while throwing just one more interception than he did the previous season. In fact, the Orange got off to a 5-2 start under his direction.

Former Syracuse University football commit heads to Portland State | syracuse.com
Junior college defensive lineman Mark Garrick won't continue his career at Syracuse University. But the former Sacramento City College all-star will play at a four-year program next fall.

Syracuse's Jerami Grant struggles, but USA defeats Brazil to advance to semifinals | syracuse.com
Syracuse University's Jerami Grant started for the third straight game, but the 6-foot-7 forward struggled from the field. Grant went 1-for-9 from the field and finished with just two points. He did grab five rebounds in 22 minutes of action. He's now 2-for-18 shooting in three games.

Jerome Smith — Meet the 2012 Syracuse football team | The Juice Online
"A good example of an upperclassman coming on is Jerome Smith," Syracuse coach Doug Marrone said after Smith’s solid performance the Spring Game. "Jerome Smith had as fine of a season as any running back we’ve had here in the spring."

Former Syracuse football player Arthur Jones competes for starting spot with Baltimore Ravens | syracuse.com
"Art has played well," Ravens coach John Harbaugh told The Baltimore Sun. "Art is not a surprise to me. He has done well. He can play both spots. He is going to play the defensive end spot and he is competing for the starting job there, and he is also going to play the 3-technique spot, which he would probably be the third man in that rotation. Versatile is huge. So he is going to play a lot of football regardless of where it ends up shaking out for the most part."

Syracuse football links: Can Orange defense bounce back this season? | syracuse.com
Head coach Doug Marrone addressed his team’s secondary issues with the hire of new defensive backs coach Donnie Henderson. He joins coordinator Scott Shafer’s efforts to improve SU on that side of the ball, but they will have to do so without the most productive member of last year’s secondary. Free safety Phillip Thomas led the Orange in both tackles (82) and interceptions (six). His departure leaves a significant void in an already depleted unit.

Syracuse University sports professor Dennis Deninger discusses the financial impact of the men's basketball team's run through March Madness