Scoop to Redshirt

It appears as if Syracuse guard and cheese-steak lover Scoop Jardine might be red-shirting this season after playing most of last year with a stress fracture in his lower left leg, the Post-Standard reports.

Right on cue after another devastating loss by the football team at home, some bad news rubs off onto the basketball program.

No, Scoop is not a devastating loss. But, eventually he could be. If we learned anything last year it was it never hurts to have experienced guards on the floor in tight games that have seen some real pressure and can handle it accordingly. So, it won't be like missing Devo or Andy, but this definitely takes a body away, and after last year it's always good to have as many bodies available to play as possible.

Props to Scoop's heart and dedication to the team, though. He fought pretty hard through what is probably a pretty painful injury all season long. He played pretty well considering that fact, as well as the fact he was a freshman that wasn't originally supposed to see much PT anyways.

"I had to play," Jardine said. "We had six guys. I thought it'd be all right if I could just get through the season."

Scoop averaged just over 9 points a game in the last 10 games of the season. (Too bad his team-first attitude never rubbed off on Onte Greene... No D... get it?.... Lame?.... I know).

Scoop never really wowed anyone last year, but he was a solid guard who provided solid play for most of the minutes he was in action. The Orange look to be a pretty deep team to begin with. But, with the depth of the Big East this year it is critical to have a deep bench full of players that can play productive minutes. So, though the removal of Scoop doesn't help, it's not quite what the team and Orange fans had to go through last year with the losses of Andy Rautins and Eric Devendorf.

Bottom line: The team is still pretty talented and pretty deep. Also, it appears as if they have every "position" filled:

Smart/Athletic/Do-it-all Point-Guard: Jonny Flynn
Inside/Outside Slashing Off-Guard: Devo
Sniper: Andy Rautins
Strong/Athletic swingman: Paul Harris
Inside Bruiser: Arinze Onuaku
Hustler: KRISTOF!
Long, Lean, athletic 4 man off the Bench: Rick Jackson

All of that plus a couple pretty good recruits in Mookie Jones and Kris Joseph. While I'll miss Scoop and the energy he brought to the team off the bench, it's a far cry from losing the starting backcourt again. BUT, this would probably hurt the Orange most when Jonny or Eric are in foul trouble, or late in games when the team needs an extra ball-handler on the floor. We'll just have to wait and see how things go.