Syracuse men’s basketball 22-23 roster preview: Frank Anselem

We’re going to spend some time looking ahead to the 2022-23 Syracuse Orange men’s basketball roster. We’ll look at the players that we anticipate will be returning as well as the incoming recruits. Next up is forward/center Frank Anselem.

Season Recap

Frank was expected to play a limited role behind Jesse Edwards and possibly Bourama Sidibe. After only playing in four games in his first season we didn’t know what he’d bring to this year’s team but before the season the staff was excited about his improvement. Frank was in a reserve rule for the Orange with his biggest moment coming against Indiana where he knocked down 4 free throws to help Syracuse hold onto a big win.

When Jesse Edwards’ injury forced him to the sideline. Anselem started six games in a row and while he was up and down in that stretch, he contributed 41 rebounds in those games including 15 at Virginia Tech.

Bourama Sidibe took over the starting role the final three games but Frank played 31 minutes against Florida State in the ACC Tournament and he delivered 9 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks in the blowout win. He followed that up with 6 points and 4 rebounds in the loss to Duke.

For the season Anselem averaged 2.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game while shooting 63.5% from the field.

Next Steps

His offensive game is limited to shots at the rim at this point so while Anselem might be a better fit at power forward on defense, it’s tough to see him there on the offensive end as teams could play off him on the perimeter. This could limit the ability of Jim Boeheim to deploy him with Jesse Edwards in a super-sized frontcourt next season. Frank’s athleticism could be better utilized if the Orange are playing more man defense and looking to press more in 22-23. He’ll also be more effective on offense if Syracuse has players who can get into the lane and collapse the defense.

If Frank can continue to add strength he should give the Orange a solid back-up center next season. The one position that the incoming recruiting class doesn’t seem prepared to cover is the center spot. Should he be able to take a big step forward on offense he could find a role at power forward as his ability to cover ground on defense would allow Jim Boeheim to utilize a long backline of the zone.