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Today we continue along with our preseason player profiles for men’s basketball. See previous profile on John Bol Ajak here.
The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball season is just days away with the Orange vs. White scrimmage set to tip Friday from the Carrier Dome and the first exhibition game next Wednesday.
As such, we continue to parse the roster with our player profiles, this time taking a look at Chaz Owens.
Owens comes to Syracuse as a legacy player as his father, Billy, starred at Syracuse from 1988-91 on his way to becoming the third pick in the 1991 NBA Draft. His uncle, Michael, played football at Syracuse too. Owens played high school basketball at The Shipley School in Pennsylvania before doing a post-grad year at Scotland Campus and eventually enrolling as a freshman at SU last season.
Last season as a freshman, Owens appeared in two games for Syracuse. He played one minute against Miami and one minute in the NCAA Tournament opening round against San Diego State. He was named to the 2020 Fall Athletic Directors Honor Roll, so he’s helping those APR numbers (Do we still even care about APR now with all these transfers? Did we actually ever care?).
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Position: Guard/Forward
Class: Soph.
Vitals: 6-foot-5, 205 lbs.
Quote (via Syracuse.com): “With my dad having played here, I’d come up to Syracuse often and watch guys like Wes Johnson, Dion Waiters and MCW (Michael Carter-Williams),’’ Owens said. “It was a dream to play in the Carrier Dome and all that.’’
Stats: Owens appeared in two games last year and posted a pair of trillions. Keep up the good work, Chaz.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Owens is a natural athlete with a smooth shooting stroke. He can knock down shots from range and he competes on the glass. He can finish around the rim too, although he lacks a discernible handle and mid-range game.
Ceiling: The best case scenario for Owens is earning a bit of time as the fourth guard in rotation. The backcourt remains slim with just three other scholarship players in Joe Girard, Buddy Boeheim and Symir Torrence. It’s unlikely Owens commands a ton of minutes, but he’d be the fourth guard and maybe the fourth forward in the rotation. Ownes provides a little bit of insurance in case of injuries or foul trouble. He’s a capable player.
Floor: Owens fails to see much playing time and gets minutes when Syracuse is either up or down 20.