Syracuse Orange aim to end improbable basketball drought with big goals set by Adrian Autry

The Syracuse men’s basketball team hasn’t been on a drought like this in a long, long time.

The Orange have missed the NCAA Tournament in four consecutive seasons.

The last time that happened was before Jim Boeheim was even the head coach, back in the early 1970s.

Now, it’s the last two years of Boeheim and the first two years of Adrian Autry that have ended without dancing.

Something’s gotta give for a program with one national championship and many more appearances in the NCAA Tournament than not since Boeheim’s hiring in 1976.

The Orange had their annual media day on Wednesday, and The Daily Orange’s Justin Girshon asked Autry if this season is tourney or bust.

Here’s what Autry replied:

“I look like that every year. I want to make the tournament every year. I’m not here just to be mediocre. That’s not why I’m here. This place is where I grew up at. I learned a lot. I raised a family here, so I know how much this program means to the community and my family. Every year, we want to compete. We don’t want to make it, but we want to compete and try to win it.”

Try to win it does seem like a step too far for the SU program at the moment.

The modern era of college basketball appears to have passed Syracuse by, and it can’t have helped to lose a Hall of Fame coach, either.

SU still has talent and could win a bunch of games this season, but the Orange will have to figure out how the pieces fit together.

Casual fans may be most excited to see what Carmelo’s son Kiyan Anthony can do, but this team will need a lot more than an Anthony to get back to the Big Dance.

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