Legends of Syracuse Basketball

Carmelo Anthony, Rony Seikaly, Derrick Coleman, John Wallace, Jim Boeheim, and Many More!

De: Mike Waters

Narrado por: David Deboy

A compendium of stories from and about Syracuse basketball’s greatest legends - newly updated!

A list of legends is significant not only for who makes the list, but who gets left off of it. If there are no obvious omissions, then the list of candidates was probably less than legendary in the first place. Not so in the case of the Syracuse University Orangemen. Calling roll on Syracuse’s all-time basketball greats can take up the greater part of a day. The school produced its first All-American, Lewis Castle, in 1912. More recently, Carmelo Anthony, one of the best freshmen to ever play college basketball, led the 2003 Orangemen to the school’s first NCAA championship. In between there were legends such as the incomparable Dave Bing, Roosevelt Bouie, and Louis Orr, who together formed the Louie and Bouie Show, along with names like Derrick Coleman, Sherman Douglas, Lawrence Moten, and John Wallace. Legends of Syracuse Basketball, now newly revised, features 24 players, one coach, and one special team. Of the players mentioned, 17 played in the NBA. Within the book’s pages are stories straight from the legends’ teammates, their coaches, and the legends themselves.

©2013 Mike Waters. Foreword Copyright 2013 by Louis Orr (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

real good read for Cuse fans

a little repetitive and too many stats, but overall a good nostalgic look at some of the Cuse's best hoop players. missing some of the best like the original shack.

A Clockwork Orange

Mike Waters delivers a really wonderful book. Any lifelong Syracuse fan will find this trip down memory lane quite enjoyable...and frustrating. Given that Syracuse basketball is now in a dismal condition, and has been trending downward for a decade, this reminder of how great they once were was bittersweet.

Waters is a longtime Syracuse writer, and really loves the program. He writes from the heart, and his affection for the players and legendary coach come through in every chapter. I could find only three glaring errors (though perhaps there were more, and experts can better dissect). Derrick Coleman was not national player of the year in 1990. Lionel Simmons won both the Wooden Award and Naismith Award. So I am not sure what award Waters might be talking about, Syracuse did not blow Mississippi State out in the 1996 Final Four. The game was tied at half and was a 4-point game with 8 minutes left. The final score was a comfortable 8, but it was never a blowout. And in 2004, Syracuse was a #5 seed when they played and beat Brigham Young, not a #6 seed. But truly, only three errors that jumped out at me listening.

The book traces the long path of SU basketball, from the early days of Lew Castle and Billy Gabor, through the Dave Bing era, to the 1975 unexpected Final Four run featuring Rudy Hackett and Jim Lee, through the rise of the Big East, and the electrifying "Pearl" Washington, and culminating with 2003 national title team led by Carmelo Anthony.

Waters nailed his analysis time and again. The "Pearl" did put the Big East on the map. Sherman Douglas was the greatest alley-ooper of all time. Carmelo Anthony was Billy Owens only with a better jump shot. And Lawrence Moten and Hakim Warrick rose to unexpected prominence. The book is outdated, and was written before Boeheim's first losing season, and the downfall of this once mighty program into mediocrity.

I could go on and on about this book and the program it celebrates. But if you love Syracuse, or even just the glory days of the Big East and college basketball, do yourself a favor and listen to this outstanding book!