Which former Syracuse basketball players would make your group chat?

Among the many enjoyable aspects of Wednesday’s interview between John Wallace and TNIAAM was the discovery that there’s a group chat of former Syracuse Orange greats. Wallace didn’t get into exactly who’s on it, but one would assume it’s not EVERY former player, and it doesn’t necessarily just graduate each guy in after he’s done at SU.

It did get us thinking about a) who’s actually on it, and b) who we’d want to be on it. So given our extended offseason here, this seemed like a great time to construct our ultimate Syracuse men’s basketball group chat.

The rules are simple: Construct a group chat out of any 10 current/former Orange players that you get to sit in on at all times. It’s not essential that they’re living, but probably helps keep the idea in the present tense.

Just because a player was great doesn’t mean they’d be a great group chat addition. And perhaps a player who struggled may provide the most entertaining midday texts. So without hundreds of players to choose from, you have a lot of combinations to work with. I personally went with this configuration:

• Carmelo Anthony
• John Wallace
• Mookie Jones
• Dion Waiters
• Rakeem Christmas
• Eric Devendorf
• Tyler Lydon
• Derrick Coleman
• Buddy Boeheim
• Billy Edelin

Some of these are more obvious picks than others. Carmelo pretty much has to be in there, and Wallace actually seems like a fun hang based on yesterday’s conversation. Mookie Jones and Billy Edelin are in there for comic relief, as is Dion. Rak would probably have some fantastic Michael Jordan stories to share that would make things well worth the price of admission.

DC’s another essential one, just to make sure the group has the right gravity to it. Devendorf would provide an interesting perspective, while Lydon actually has a really enjoyable sense of humor that could keep folks guessing. Buddy’s in there because while Jim wouldn’t be a very attentive group chat addition, his son would bring exactly the sort of anecdotes about Jim that are needed from time to time.

This list is far from ironclad, though, so share your own Orange hoops group chat below.