Jim Boeheim looks toward potential bounceback year for Oshae Brissett at Syracuse

After Oshae Brissett announced he’d be testing the NBA Draft waters, it was easy to think he was likely headed to the pros. And he still may be. Though Syracuse Orange men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim doesn’t appear to think so — and not in the curmudgeonly way you may think.

When asked about Brissett at the Final Four this weekend, Boeheim told Syracuse.com’s Mike Waters about the pressure the sophomore forward had put on himself and how that negatively affected his game during the season. He noted where he can improve and how he sees a pretty big 2019-20 in store for him... provided he comes back, of course. He sounded optimistic on the front, while also supporting the player’s ability to take advantage of the NBA’s current process.

If Brissett does leave, that means SU is without three of its top five scorers for next year.

That, plus the rest of your Syracuse-related links below:

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim: Oshae Brissett ‘can have a really good year next year’ (Syracuse.com)

“I think he put pressure on himself thinking about going (to the NBA), and you can’t do that,’’ Boeheim said during an interview on Saturday here at the Final Four. “You can’t put pressure on yourself. You’ve just got to go out and play. Once you start thinking about going to the league, you put pressure on yourself, and it kind of builds.’’

Syracuse AD John Wildhack on ACC Network launch, spring game excitement (Syracuse.com)

What the ACC Network will hopefully do is kind of narrow the gap between ACC revenues and Big Ten and SEC. Everyone talks about the power-five but if you look at media revenues, the Big Ten and the SEC have separated themselves. We’re competing against Big Ten schools every day, same thing with SEC schools. Anything that can be done that narrows that gap will be helpful.

Nick Mellen’s skills on defense will help against Cornell’s top attackman (Daily Orange)

Because Mellen overmatches Teat physically, Cornell will likely set frequent picks to get him free. If Mellen keeps Teat nearby maneuvering around the picks, he can try to dispossess Teat. Mellen, who played Teat into four turnovers in April 2018, can knock the ball free, for a ground ball opportunity or swipe the ball from Teat’s stick, taking possession himself.

Why this generationally unsexy NCAA title game is a sign of things to come (Yahoo Sports)

“They need to get a better plan,” Boeheim said. “They tried to do it. The Rice Commission didn’t do that. The NBA is going to do what’s best for them. We have to be ready. Give [the players] a path. There needs to be a lot of planning and a lot of thought. You need to listen to people that have an idea about it. Not presidents or even ADs now, there’s no basketball ADs. There’s business guys. They keep saying they want to do that, but they don’t do anything.”

Privileged (The Players Tribune)

The kind that almost hides itself in plain view. It’s the person who does and says all the “right” things in public: They’re perfectly friendly when they meet a person of color. They’re very polite. But in private? Well….. they sort of wish that everyone would stop making everything “about race” all the time.

16 years after national title win with Syracuse, Gerry McNamara can still shoot (Daily Orange)

Veilleux Discusses Syracuse Offer, Visit (CuseNation)

What was Tee Martin’s favorite drive as a Tennessee football quarterback? (Knoxville News Sentinel)

Paschal Chukwu will hire agent, plan for uncertain future (Syracuse.com)

Syracuse struggles to close sets in 5-2 loss to Miami (Daily Orange)