October is here, which means the new Syracuse Orange basketball season is just weeks away, and fans will soon get to here directly from the coaches and some players on both teams.
Coach Adrian Autry, forward Donnie Freeman and guard J.J. Starling will be representing Syracuse men’s team for this year’s ACC Basketball Tipoff in Charlotte. On the women’s side, coach Felisha Legette-Jack will be going alongside returning guard Sophie Burrows and transfer guard Laila Phelia.
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ACC Tipoff takes places next week. The women’s tipoff will be on Monday and Tuesday, while the men’s tipoff runs on Tuesday and Wednesday. ACC Network will be live from the multi-day event, which means fans will get to hear directly from both coaches as well as the players attending.
There will certainly be plenty of interest to see what the Orange will have to say and, more important, the work being done behind the scenes as the 2025-26 campaigns inch closer for both programs.
On the men’s side, Syracuse brings to Charlotte arguably its two best players from the 2024-25 roster, with the news of both returning so significant, it was announced in a joint press release. The Orange will be taking the court with a mostly-new roster, except for the Starling-Freeman duo. Each will look to build off of last season, when each had flashes of promise, but was largely doomed because of injuries.
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Fans will definitely be interested in hearing/seeing an update on this early right hand injury from Starling that we first heard about just over a week ago, plus Freeman’s recovery after a lower right leg injury ended his freshman year early.
And of course, there’s the expectations for Syracuse to improve after last year’s 14-19 finish. Some of the national outlets are showing high praise for the work the Orange did over the offseason, but with that comes the pressure of turning that into success on the court, especially in a pivotal third year for Autry.
On the women’s side, Legette-Jack is at an interesting point in her run with the Orange. Her first two seasons saw the program go from an 11-win team to a 20-win team in year one, followed by a 24-win campaign and a trip to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. But last year, the Orange took a pretty notable step back, finishing 12-18 in 2024-25.
Burrows and Phelia are two intriguing choices to hear more from. One of the few bright spots from last year’s Orange, Burrows became a full-time starter and improved all across the board. She’s projected to start alongside Phelia, who is a total wildcard. She performed quite well with Michigan in 2022-23 and 2023-24. The following year, Phelia transferred to Texas, where eye surgery sidelined her for the rest of the season after just eight games.
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The new season for both programs unofficially starts at the end of October. The women’s team will play an exhibition versus Daemen on October 28, while the men’s team will travel for an exhibition against Buffalo.
