2011–12 Syracuse Orange men's basketball team

The 2011–12 Syracuse Orange men's basketball team represented Syracuse University in the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach, Jim Boeheim, served for his 36th year. The team played its home games at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York and is a member of the Big East Conference.

2011–12 Syracuse Orange men's basketball
NIT Season Tip-Off Champions Big East Season Champions
NCAA Tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Big East Conference (1979–2013)
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 2
Record	0–3, 34 wins vacated (0–1 (17 wins vacated)) Big East)
Head coach	Jim Boeheim
Assistant coaches	Mike Hopkins Adrian Autry Gerry McNamara
Home arena	Carrier Dome
Seasons ← 2010–11 2012–13 →

2011–12 Big East men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 11 Marquette	14	–	4		.778			27	–	8		.771
Notre Dame	13	–	5		.722			22	–	12		.647
Cincinnati	12	–	6		.667			26	–	11		.703
No. 15 Georgetown	12	–	6		.667			24	–	9		.727
South Florida	12	–	6		.667			22	–	14		.611
West Virginia	9	–	9		.500			19	–	14		.576
Connecticut	8	–	10		.444			20	–	14		.588
Seton Hall	8	–	10		.444			21	–	13		.618
Rutgers	6	–	12		.333			14	–	18		.438
St. John's	6	–	12		.333			13	–	19		.406
Pittsburgh	5	–	13		.278			22	–	17		.564
Villanova	5	–	13		.278			13	–	19		.406
Providence	4	–	14		.222			15	–	17		.469
DePaul	3	–	15		.167			12	–	19		.387
*No. 2 Syracuse	0	–	1		.000			0	–	3		.000
**No. 17 Louisville†	0	–	8		.000			0	–	10		.000
† 2012 Big East tournament winner As of March 31, 2012[1] *Syracuse: 30 reg. season games, 4 postseason games vacated due to sanctions against the program; Disputed record: Syracuse–(34–3)(17–1) **Louisville: 25 reg. season games, 5 postseason games vacated due to sanctions against the program; Disputed record: Louisville–(30-10)(10-8) Rankings from AP Poll

In 2015, Syracuse voluntarily vacated nine wins from this season due to participation of ineligible players. Following an NCAA investigation, all 25 other wins were vacated. Syracuse was, however, allowed to keep their banners and Elite Eight appearance.^[2][3]

Preseason

Roster changes

Syracuse graduated one starter from the previous year's team, power forward Rick Jackson. Center DaShonte Riley transferred to Eastern Michigan.

Recruiting

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Michael Carter-Williams PG	Hamilton, MA	St. Andrew's School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Nov 1, 2009
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (97)
Rakeem Christmas C	Philadelphia, PA	Academy of the New Church	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	230 lb (100 kg)	Aug 6, 2010
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (97)
Trevor Cooney SG	Wilmington, DE	Sanford School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Feb 26, 2010
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (94)
Overall recruit ranking:   Scout: #16    Rivals: #11    ESPN: #10
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2011 Syracuse Signees". Rivals. Retrieved November 3, 2010. "2011 Syracuse Signees". Scout. Retrieved November 3, 2010. "2011 Syracuse Signees". ESPN. Retrieved November 3, 2010. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout. Retrieved November 3, 2010. "2011 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved November 3, 2010.

Preseason outlook

In the Big East preseason Coaches' Poll, Syracuse was predicted to finish tied for first with Connecticut. The Orange received five first place votes and 209 votes overall.^[4] Kris Joseph was named to the Preseason All-Big East first team and Scoop Jardine was named to the second team.^[5]

Postseason awards

Fab Melo was named the Big East's Defensive Player of the Year and Dion Waiters won the Big East Sixth Man Award.^[6] Kris Joseph was named to the All-Big East First Team while Scoop Jardine made the Second Team and Dion Waiters made the Third Team.^[7]

The National Association of Basketball Coaches named Joseph to its All-America Second Team.^[8]

NBC Sports also named Melo the Big East's Defensive Player of the Year and Waiters the Sixth Man of the Year. NBC named Joseph to its All-Big East First Team and Jardine and Waiters to its Second Team.^[9]

CBS Sports named Waiters its national Sixth Man of the Year.^[10] It also named Waiters All-Big East First Team and Joseph Second Team.^[11]

Roster

2011–12 Syracuse Orange men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 1 Michael Carter-Williams 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 176 lb (80 kg) Fr St. Andrew's Hamilton, Massachusetts G 2 Nick Resavy 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 201 lb (91 kg) Sr West Milford West Milford, New Jersey G 3 Dion Waiters 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Life Center Academy Philadelphia, Pennsylvania G 4 Nolan Hart 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 152 lb (69 kg) So Albany Academy Albany, New York F 5 C. J. Fair 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 203 lb (92 kg) So Brewster Academy Baltimore, Maryland G 10 Trevor Cooney  6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Sanford Wilmington, Delaware G 11 Scoop Jardine 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Neumann-Goretti Philadelphia, Pennsylvania C 12 Baye Moussa Keita 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 213 lb (97 kg) So Oak Hill Academy Saint Louis, Senegal G 13 Griffin Hoffmann 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 178 lb (81 kg) Jr York Preparatory New York, New York F 14 Matt Lyde-Cajuste 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Iona Preparatory Mt. Vernon, New York G 20 Brandon Triche 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Jamesville-DeWitt Jamesville, New York F 21 Mookie Jones 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Peekskill Peekskill, New York G 23 Russ DeRemer 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Xaverian Brothers Wrentham, Massachusetts G 24 Brandon Reese 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Sr Pine Crest Davie, Florida F 25 Rakeem Christmas 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 222 lb (101 kg) Fr Academy of the New Church Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania F 32 Kris Joseph 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Archbishop Carroll (DC) Montreal, Quebec F 33 Albert Nassar 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr South Fork Stuart, Florida F 34 Matt Tomaszewski 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Holderness Seabrook, New Hampshire F 43 James Southerland 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Notre Dame Preparatory (MA) Bayside, New York C 51 Fab Melo 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 244 lb (111 kg) So The Sagemont School Juiz de Fora, Brazil	Head coach Jim Boeheim, 36th yr. (Syracuse, 1966) Assistant coach(es) Mike Hopkins, 16th yr. (Syracuse, 1993) Gerry McNamara, 3rd yr. (Syracuse, 2007) Adrian Autry, 1st yr. (Syracuse, 1994) Strength and conditioning coach(es) Lazarus Sims, 5th yr. (Syracuse, 1996) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 2011-03-13

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2	Bench 3
C	Fab Melo	Baye Keita	Matt Tomaszewski
PF	C.J. Fair	Rakeem Christmas	Matt Lyde-Cajuste
SF	Kris Joseph	James Southerland	Griffin Hoffmann	Albert Nassar
SG	Brandon Triche	Dion Waiters	Nick Resavy	Russ DeRemer
PG	Scoop Jardine	Michael Carter-Williams	Brandon Reese	Nolan Hart

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov. 1* 7:00 pm, Time Warner SportsNet	No. 5	CSULA (DII)	W 79–49		12 – Melo	9 – Keita	7 – Jardine	Carrier Dome (8,668) Syracuse, NY
Nov. 8* 7:00 pm, Time Warner SportsNet/SNY	No. 5	St. Rose (DII)	W 87–69		12 – Joseph	7 – Keita	3 – Tied	Carrier Dome (8,110) Syracuse, NY
Regular Season
Nov. 12* 4:00 pm, Time Warner SportsNet/SNY	No. 5	Fordham	W 78–53	1–0	16 – Joseph	7 – Triche	3 – Tied	Carrier Dome (22,906) Syracuse, NY
Nov. 14* 7:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 5	Manhattan NIT Season Tip-Off	W 92–56	2–0	17 – Waiters	9 – Melo	5 – Waiters	Carrier Dome (17,284) Syracuse, NY
Nov. 15* 7:00 pm, ESPN3	No. 5	Albany NIT Season Tip-Off	W 98–74	3–0	19 – Tied	9 – Fair	5 – Tied	Carrier Dome (17,189) Syracuse, NY
Nov. 19* 4:00 pm, Time Warner SportsNet/SNY	No. 5	Colgate	W 92–47	4–0	16 – Waiters	8 – Christmas	6 – Jardine	Carrier Dome (21,084) Syracuse, NY
Nov. 23* 9:30 pm, ESPN2	No. 5	vs. Virginia Tech NIT Season Tipoff	W 69–58	5–0	20 – Joseph	10 – Tied	6 – Triche	Madison Square Garden (8,293) New York, NY
Nov. 25* 5:00 pm, ESPN	No. 5	vs. Stanford NIT Season Tipoff	W 69–63	6–0	18 – Joseph	9 – Tied	4 – Triche	Madison Square Garden (8,477) New York, NY
Nov. 29* 7:00 pm, Time Warner SportsNet/SNY	No. 4	Eastern Michigan	W 84–48	7–0	19 – Southerland	6 – Christmas	7 – Jardine	Carrier Dome (19,649) Syracuse, NY
Dec. 2* 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 4	No. 10 Florida SEC–Big East Challenge	W 72–68	8–0	20 – Triche	11 – Fair	7 – Jardine	Carrier Dome (24,459) Syracuse, NY
Dec. 6* 7:00 pm, Time Warner SportsNet/SNY	No. 3	Marshall	W 62–56	9–0	15 – Waiters	8 – Joseph	4 – Jardine	Carrier Dome (19,817) Syracuse, NY
Dec. 10* 7:00 pm, Time Warner SportsNet/SNY	No. 3	George Washington	W 85–50	10–0	19 – Waiters	8 – Joseph	8 – Carter-Williams	Carrier Dome (23,226) Syracuse, NY
Dec. 17* 6:30 pm, ESPN2	No. 1	at NC State	W 88–72	11–0	22 – Waiters	6 – Melo	4 – Tied	RBC Center (19,400) Raleigh, NC
Dec. 20* 7:00 pm, Time Warner SportsNet/SNY	No. 1	Bucknell	W 80–61	12–0	17 – Joseph	9 – Melo	4 – Tied	Carrier Dome (17,302) Syracuse, NY
Dec. 22* 7:00 pm, Time Warner SportsNet/SNY	No. 1	Tulane	W 80–61	13–0	15 – Waiters	5 – Tied	3 – Tied	Carrier Dome (18,679) Syracuse, NY
Big East Regular Season
Dec. 28 7:00 pm, Big East Network/MSG	No. 1	Seton Hall	W 75–49	14–0 (1–0)	15 – Waiters	8 – Fair	4 – Tied	Carrier Dome (25,081) Syracuse, NY
Jan. 1 5:00 pm, Big East Network/SNY	No. 1	at DePaul	W 87–68	15–0 (2–0)	22 – Joseph	7 – Joseph	3 – Tied	Allstate Arena (12,102) Rosemont, IL
Jan. 4 9:00 pm, Big East Network/SNY	No. 1	at Providence	W 87–73	16–0 (3–0)	16 – Triche	5 – Christmas	11 – Jardine	Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,252) Providence, RI
Jan. 7 4:00 pm, Big East Network/SNY	No. 1	No. 20 Marquette	W 73–66	17–0 (4–0)	17 – Joseph	8 – Tied	7 – Waiters	Carrier Dome (25,412) Syracuse, NY
Jan. 11 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 1	at Villanova	W 79–66	18–0 (5–0)	20 – Waiters	7 – Keita	5 – Jardine	Wells Fargo Center (14,877) Philadelphia, PA
Jan. 14 6:00 pm, Big East Network/SNY	No. 1	Providence	W 78–55	19–0 (6–0)	13 – Joseph	6 – Fair	9 – Jardine	Carrier Dome (23,311) Syracuse, NY
Jan. 16 7:30 pm, ESPN	No. 1	Pittsburgh	W 71–63	20–0 (7–0)	16 – Waiters	10 – Melo	10 – Jardine	Carrier Dome (24,826) Syracuse, NY
Jan. 21 6:00 pm, ESPN	No. 1	at Notre Dame	L 58–67	20–1 (7–1)	15 – Southerland	5 – Joseph	7 – Jardine	Purcell Pavilion (9,149) Notre Dame, IN
Jan. 23 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 3	at Cincinnati	W 60–53	21–1 (8–1)	17 – Joseph	9 – Christmas	6 – Jardine	Fifth Third Arena (13,176) Cincinnati, OH
Jan. 28 1:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 3	West Virginia	W 63–61	22–1 (9–1)	18 – Triche	7 – Joseph	5 – Jardine	Carrier Dome (28,740) Syracuse, NY
Feb. 4 12:00 pm, ESPN	No. 2	at St. John's	W 95–70	23–1 (10–1)	14 – Tied	8 – Joseph	5 – Triche	Madison Square Garden (19,979) New York, NY
Feb. 8 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 2	No. 11 Georgetown	W 64–61 OT	24–1 (11–1)	29 – Joseph	9 – Fair	8 – Jardine	Carrier Dome (27,820) Syracuse, NY
Feb. 11 1:00 pm, CBS	No. 2	Connecticut Rivalry	W 85–67	25–1 (12–1)	21 – Jardine	12 – Fair	6 – Jardine	Carrier Dome (33,430) Syracuse, NY
Feb. 13 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 2	at No. 19 Louisville	W 52–51	26–1 (13–1)	13 – Fair	6 – Tied	5 – Jardine	KFC Yum! Center (22,738) Louisville, KY
Feb. 19 1:00 pm, ESPN	No. 2	at Rutgers	W 74–64	27–1 (14–1)	21 – Fair	8 – Fair	7 – Jardine	Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,093) Piscataway, NJ
Feb. 22 7:00 pm, Big East Network/SNY	No. 2	South Florida	W 56–48	28–1 (15–1)	15 – Jardine	9 – Joseph	4 – Jardine	Carrier Dome (25,316) Syracuse, NY
Feb. 25 9:00 pm, ESPN	No. 2	at Connecticut Rivalry and ESPN College GameDay	W 71–69	29–1 (16–1)	21 – Joseph	9 – Melo	6 – Jardine	Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT
Mar. 3 4:00 pm, CBS	No. 2	No. 19 Louisville	W 58–49	30–1 (17–1)	18 – Triche	8 – Melo	4 – Triche	Carrier Dome (33,205) Syracuse, NY
2012 Big East men's basketball tournament
Mar. 8 12:00 pm, ESPN	No. 2	vs. Connecticut Quarterfinals/Rivalry	W 58–55	31–1	18 – Waiters	7 – Triche	4 – Carter-Williams	Madison Square Garden (20,057) New York, NY
Mar. 9 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 2	vs. Cincinnati Semifinals	L 68–71	31–2	28 – Waiters	11 – Fair	4 – Tied	Madison Square Garden (20,057) New York, NY
2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
Mar. 15 3:10 pm, truTV	No. 2 (1)	vs. (16) UNC Asheville Second Round	W 72–65	32–2	15 – Southerland	8 – Tied	7 – Jardine	Consol Energy Center (18,927) Pittsburgh, PA
Mar. 17 12:15 pm, CBS	No. 2 (1)	vs. (8) Kansas State Third Round	W 75–59	33–2	18 – Waiters	11 – Christmas	8 – Jardine	Consol Energy Center (18,588) Pittsburgh, PA
Mar. 22 7:15 pm, CBS	No. 2 (1)	vs. No. 14 (4) Wisconsin Sweet Sixteen	W 64–63	34–2	15 – Fair	7 – Fair	4 – Jardine	TD Garden (18,796) Boston, MA
Mar. 24 7:05 pm, CBS	No. 2 (1)	vs. No. 7 (2) Ohio State Elite Eight	L 70–77	34–3	15 – Triche	10 – Keita	6 – Jardine	TD Garden (19,026) Boston, MA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll.. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

Main article: 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking Movement
Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes.

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	WK 17	Wk 18	Final
AP	5	5	5	4	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	*
Coaches	5	5	5	3	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	4	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	5

2012–13 Recruiting

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
DaJuan Coleman C	DeWitt, NY	Jamesville-DeWitt High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	280 lb (130 kg)	Oct 25, 2011
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (97)
Jerami Grant PF	Hyattsville, MD	DeMatha Catholic High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sep 16, 2011
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (95)
Overall recruit ranking:   Scout: #11    ESPN: #15
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2012 Syracuse Signees". Rivals. Retrieved February 13, 2012. "2012 Syracuse Signees". Scout. Retrieved February 13, 2012. "2012 Syracuse Signees". ESPN. Retrieved February 13, 2012. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout. Retrieved February 13, 2012. "2012 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved February 13, 2012.