Syracuse basketball preseason player profiles: Brycen Goodine

Ed. Note - With the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball program set to begin practice today, we’ll continue along with our season preview coverage. That will include individual player profiles, so consider this the first as we begin with freshman guard Brycen Goodine.

Position: Guard

Class: Freshman

Vitals: 6-foot-3, 170 lbs

Stats: Averaged 8.5 points per game during the Italian tour

Scouting report: Goodine comes to Syracuse as the highest rated recruit (amongst his SU peers) in the 2019 class. ESPN rated him the No. 77 overall recruit in the class of 2019, while 247 had him at No. 97.

Goodine hails from New Bedford, Massachusetts. He played his AAU ball with BABC and high school ball at St. Andrews in Rhode Island. If St. Andrews sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the same high school that produced former Syracuse players Michael Carter-Williams and Demetris Nichols. Head coach Mike Hart has coached all three aforementioned SU players.

How he fits: For what it’s worth, Jim Boeheim had Goodine as the first guard off the bench in Italy. He’s a long, athletic guard who can take it to the rim and finish over the top of defenders. He has a capable handle and is a willing passer, too. In Italy, he showed he was a better shooter than advertised and was eager to shoot it from deep. Goodine’s length and athleticism give him the potential to be a strong defender in the 2-3 zone. He should be able to contribute at Syracuse right away on both ends of the floor and given his versatilely, it’ll be hard to leave a guy like him on the pine.

Apparently Goodine has added about 15 pounds (read: probably more like 10) since the summer, and not of the freshman 15 variety.

Ceiling: Goodine becomes the team’s starting point guard after showing an ability to create, run the offense and displaying enough aggression in looking for his own shot. He becomes a solid defender within the zone (and man?), getting out to shooters and creating deflections. Still, freshman mistakes are to be expected in his first season.

Floor: Goodine plays a small role on the team and finds his minutes diminish by conference play. Still, he finds a way to make a meaningful impact in year one and shows promise for future years.

Other areas of interest: Syracuse was Goodine’s dream school. Find out more about him below, and hats off to SUA for the Cuse newcomer mini series.