Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim has been putting a premium on having a deadly long-range shooter, even if he has to hide his lateral quickness shortcomings in the coach’s trademark 2-3 zone, for so long that he has coached fathers and sons who could fill it up.
Howard Triche was a floor-spreader for the Orange long before his son Brandon Triche played a similar role. Leo Rautins and som Andy Rautins also starred at Syracuse.
Matt Roe, Preston Shumpert, Gerry McNamara and Eric Devendorf are other Boeheim zone-busters who easily come to mind.
Former Kansas and Nebraska sharp-shooter Andrew White III is thriving in that role for Syracuse unranked Orange (10-6), which at this point projects as sitting on the wrong side of the NCAA tournament bubble.
Boeheim is so happy with how White fits the shooter role that the forward has played 118 of 120 minutes in three ACC games. White’s averaging 21.7 points and 7.7 rebounds in ACC play.
He has been something of an X factor for Syracuse in that the team is 5-1 in games White makes at least half of his 3-pointers and 5-5 when he misses more than he makes.
White leads the Orange with 16.1 points per game and has a .398 3-point percentage.
White left Kansas roughly seven months before fellow 3-point marksman Conner Frankamp, who has not enjoyed as much success at Wichita State.
Frankamp is averaging
6.4 points, shooting .348 from 3-point range and playing 21 minutes per game.
KU (14-1) isn’t lacking for 3-point shooters. The Jayhawks rank sixth in the nation with and are hitting 42 percent from long range.