Don’t look for the Orange to make bold moves
Last week began a new era of college athletics when schools were allowed to directly pay athletes. Based on comments from John Wildhack, don’t expect the Syracuse Orange to be out in front with new initiatives.
“We need to live this out a little bit….we need to experience it for a period of time”
Wildhack confirmed that Syracuse will pay football, men’s and women’s basketball athletes as well as some lacrosse players (not clear if that is men and/or women). Syracuse will increase scholarships in lacrosse and field hockey. Football will remain at 85 scholarships, which is good news for walk-ons who will fill out the new 105 player roster, and while Wildhack hinted at roster cuts, he didn’t confirm sports.
A private school like Syracuse was unlikely to pull a Clemson and start funding new scholarships, but the new roster sizes could offer the Orange a chance to grow enrollment by filling the new rosters, but not adding all as scholarships. Instead we’ll have to see if Syracuse raises some sports, but lowers others.
Wildhack noted that support from the business community is going to be important with the new NIL structure. While the Orange continue to work with three NIL collectives, those deals now fall under a 3rd-party evaluation process. The addition of Micron and related businesses could be a boost for Orange athletics.
The Syracuse men’s basketball team doesn’t appear to have a NYC game for this season, but Wildhack confirmed that it was important saying, ‘We want to get back in the Garden. We should be. We need to be”.
It does feel like a big whiff by Athletics not to have a MSG game lined up with the arrival of Kiyan Anthony this season. As much as Syracuse has seemingly done to help men’s basketball, missing a MSG game and still leaving two coaching spots open, feels like it’s not doing enough to help Adrian Autry get back to the NCAA Tournament.
It is interesting that Syracuse hired former Pitt AD Heather Lyke in a special advisor role. Wildhack said the Orange had chosen not to fill open positions, but adding Lyke and Chief Revenue Officer Kevin Morgan (and other NIL staff) would indicate an increase in staff spending. Lyke had been under consideration for the Ohio State AD job last year, so is she joining the Orange on a short-term basis, or could she be an AD-in-waiting if rumors that Wildhack is close to retirement are true? Something to watch for in the coming months.
We’ll be keeping an eye on news related to rosters and scholarships as we approach the 25-26 athletic year.