In the wake of Syracuse’s Final Four elimination, Orange fans have little to look ahead for, aside from the beginning of next season. In the meantime, though, here are three things to look out for, and look forward to, in the 2013-14 season.

1. Jerami Grant
With the graduation of James Southerland, Jerami Grant is going to take on a bigger role with the team. Grant started nine games for Syracuse this season, but didn’t look quite ready to step into that role. He started coming off of the bench again March 6, giving the Orange a spark with his athleticism and hustle.

With a full season under his belt, how he develops in the offseason is going to be a major factor in how much success the Orange can have next season.

Grant showed flashes of brilliance this season. Against Notre Dame, he scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Defensively, the 6-foot-8 Grant is ideal for Syracuse’s zone.

But Grant will need to successfully step into a bigger role for Syracuse next season. The Orange is losing its shooting guard and possibly its point guard if Michael Carter-Williams declares for the NBA Draft. That makes Grant one of the more experienced players in the lineup.

He’s not the shooter Southerland is, but he can put the ball on the ground and go the basket proficiently. And if he adds more muscle during the offseason and continues to fill out, he’s going to be an even more imposing presence on the court.

2. Future of MCW
It seems almost a foregone conclusion that Michael Carter-Williams will enter the NBA Draft. The point guard was named an Associated Press All-American honorable mention, and with his NCAA Tournament performance, he seems to have solidified himself as a lottery pick and at worst, a first-rounder.

But the sophomore hasn’t given any indication as to whether he will leave. After the self-proclaimed Carter-Williams fan page Twitter account @TeamMCW tweeted that the point guard planned to enter the NBA Draft, Carter-Williams fired back with a simple three-word message: “who said that?”

If he returns, Syracuse will once again be a Final Four contender. If not, it leaves the Orange with a massive hole in the backcourt. The departures of Carter-Williams and Brandon Triche would leave Trevor Cooney as the only returning guard, who would be joined by incoming freshmen Tyler Ennis and Ron Patterson, as well as transfer Michael Gbinije.

3. Continued improvement of centers
With the certain (Brandon Triche and James Southerland) and likely (Michael Carter-Williams) departures of SU’s three best perimeter players, the wealth of the Orange’s experience lies in the interior. There, the Orange can look forward to the return of its three big men in Baye Moussa Keita, Rakeem Christmas and DaJuan Coleman.

A by-committee approach again seems likely, but rising senior Keita is the only player to have shown anything resembling consistency on both ends of the floor, and even that was only in brief postseason outbursts.

Christmas is a steady defender, but too often looks lost on the offensive end, and largely fails to live up to his incredible athleticism. Coleman is the most bruising presence. He’s also the slowest and most foul-prone, making him a liability and keeping him off the floor for extended periods of time.

Christmas’ offensive progression is especially difficult to project, but if Coleman can simply turn his 5-10-minute cameos into 15-minute performances – a plateau he hit just once in conference play – then the Orange can go from a guard-dependent team to one that is at least a force to be reckoned within the paint.

— Compiled by The Daily Orange Sports staff, sports@dailyorange.com

Published on April 9, 2013 at 12:37 am