A Look at Syracuse Basketball’s Last Ten International Players

The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball program got a commitment from Slovakian forward Marek Dolezaj yesterday, becoming the fourth player in Jim Boeheim’s 2017 recruiting class. Syracuse has had an eclectic array of international players over the years, so let’s take a look at the last ten cross-border players in the men’s basketball program.

No. 10 - Paschal Chukwu

Chukwu was born in Nigeria and first came to the United States in 2009. After transferring from Providence and sitting out the 2015-2016 season, Chukwu tore his retina this season. Recently, he’s been back in team workouts and should be ready to go for the upcoming season.

No. 9 - Chinonso Obokoh

Like Chukwu, Chino was also born in Nigeria but came to the US to play basketball. After a solid high-school career, Chino played three years at Syracuse before transferring to St. Bonaventure.

No. 8 - Rakeem Christmas

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Rakeem grew up in St. Croix before moving to Philadelphia as an early teen. He had a solid four year career in Orange and averaged 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in his senior year.

No. 7 - Baye Moussa Keita

Baye was born in Senegal. As a four-year player, Baye had a very successful career anchoring the Syracuse zone. He was instrumental in Syracuse’s 2013 Final Four run.

No. 6 - Tyler Ennis

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Tyler was born in Ontario and grew up in Brampton. He’d play one season at Syracuse before departing to the NBA.

No. 5 - Kris Joseph

Kris was born in Montreal but played high school ball at Archbishop Carroll. He grew into a solid four-year player at Syracuse and finished his senior year with an Elite 8 run.

No. 4 - Fab Melo

Fab was born in Brazil and played high-school ball in Miami. He improved immensely from his freshman to sophomore campaign and earned the Big East Defensive POY award in 2012. Earlier this year we lost Fab who was just 26-years old.

No. 3 - Andy Rautins

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Okay, this one is cheating a bit. Rautins was born in Syracuse but held dual-citizenship in both the US and Canada. He went down as one of the best shooters in school history and currently sits second in all-time threes made behind Gerry McNamara.

No. 2 - Kristof Ongenaet

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Kristof was born in Belgium and served as a critical player in his two years at Syracuse.

No. 1 - Devin Brennan-McBride

That’s right. The tenth last international player at Syracuse was Devin Brennan-McBride who was from London, Ontario. He’d play in only six games before transferring out of the program.

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Did we leave anyone out? Feel free to mention your favorite international player in the comment section.