Sports SUmmary: SU to retire hoops great’s No. 44; field hockey takes thriller; football heads south
Sports SUmmary: SU to retire hoops great’s No. 44; Football travels south
Former Syracuse basketball player John Wallace will have his No.44 jersey retired this upcoming hoops season, SU Athletics announced Monday. He played at Syracuse from 1992 to 1996 and left as SU’s third all-time scorer and rebounder and ranks 9th all-time in blocked shots.
Wallace began earning accolades early in his SU career, earning freshman All-American honors from The Basketball Times and Basketball Weekly. In his second season, he earned second-team all-Big East and led the Orange to the Sweet 16. Wallace was first-team ALL-Big East his junior year. His best year came in his last, where he claimed first-team All-Big East honors and second-team All-American honors and led SU to the National Championship game where they fell to Kentucky.
He was selected 18th overall in the 1996 draft by the New York Knicks and went on to play seven seasons in the NBA for New York, Toronto, Detroit, Phoenix, and Miami.
The ceremony will take place on Feb. 29 in the Dome during the game against the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Field Hockey takes another thriller
The No. 15 Syracuse field hockey team beat the third-ranked Connecticut Huskies in a shootout on Sunday. They have now gone to extra time six times this season and have come away victorious in all six.
Claire Webb and Charlotte de Vries both scored in the shootout and SU goalie Sarah Snick stopped all four shots to seal the win. DeVries is now third in the ACC in scoring, averaging a goal a game. Sarah Snick is third in the ACC in save percentage at .736.
The Orange close out their home schedule this weekend. They have a game against No. 20 Wake Forest on Friday at 7 p.m. before wrapping up on Sunday against Cornell at 2 p.m. The game against the Demon Deacons is Student Appreciation Night and the game against the Big Red is Senior Day.
Football heads to Tallahassee
The Orange will head out on the road again to face the Florida State Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium. Both teams head into the contest with a 3-4 record. Syracuse is coming off a close loss to the Pitt Panthers last Friday while the Seminoles are coming off a loss on the road at Wake Forest.
SU beat FSU last year 30-7 at the Dome. Tommy DeVito threw went 11-16 in that game while throwing for 144 yards, 1 touchdown, and no interceptions.
Florida State leads the all-time series by a record of 10-2. Prior to the win last year, the last win for the Orange against the Florida State came in 1966.
Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN 2.
SU great joins ACC Legends Class
Former Syracuse running back Joe Morris will join the 2019 Football Legends Class as the Syracuse delegate this year, according to SU Athletics. Each school nominated their own player.
Joe Morris played at Syracuse from 1978-81. He holds or shares 16 school records and is SU’s all-time leader in rushing yards per game (113.1), rushing yards in a single game (252), single-season rushing yards (1,372) and career rushing yards (4,299).
After a storied career at Syracuse, he was selected by the New York Giants in the second round of the 1982 NFL Draft and helped the team to their first Super Bowl victory in 1986.
He will be honored along with recipients from the 13 other ACC schools at the ACC Night of Legends event in Charlotte, North Carolina on Dec. 6 and at pregame on the field of the ACC Championship Game the next day.