SYRACUSE BASKETBALL WILL BE A TOP-5 PROGRAM FROM 2010 AND BEYOND

Jim Boeheim is the best coach in college basketball. He is in the Hall of Fame, an assistant on the Olympic National Team and has a National Championship under his belt. While impressive, there are a number of  coaches in the NCAA with better resumes. What separates Boeheim is his ability to do more with less--until now.

Many people cite Boeheim's consecutive 20-win seasons, the 32nd time being this year, and having the 6th most wins all-time when discussing his legacy and overall performance at Syracuse. I do not.

Everyone knows that JB schedules soft games for the beginning of each year. While there are a lot of other coaches out there that do this, JB is famous for it and there is a reason for that--he does it a lot. His career numbers are a bit inflated because of this and therefore I can't really use his statistical resume to argue his true greatness.

After the 2001-2002 season, after 4 consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament with mediocre success, The Orange finished 23-13 and were sent to the NIT. Preston Shumpert, DeShawn Williams, Kueth Duany. These are not McDonald's All-Americans. Hakim Warrick was a freshman and while he eventually turned into a PARADE Magazine All-America selection, he was not that highly recruited himself.

When Carmelo Anthony came to Syracuse it set off a chain of events that led the Orange to where it is today, the #2 team in the country.

The National Championship helped. A lot. It expanded the University's exposure, legitimized them as a national title contender and showed many potential recruits that Syracuse (more specifically Boeheim) can take that one-and-done type player and go strait to the top.

The fact that Boeheim and Jim Calhoun battled for so many years before is shocking to me considering the far superior talent they had in Storrs.

McDonald's AA recruits want a number of things when selecting a college.

Immediate playing time - Carmelo proved that Boeheim has and will play freshman if they are worthy. No question about it.

Exposure with nationally televised games. Lots of 'em! - This has never been an issue for Syracuse. Aside from North Carolina and Duke, there really aren't a lot of teams that get air-time like the Orange.

Facilities - This is why Syracuse is going to continue to stay on top. Before this year, Syracuse was practicing in the general student gym when the Carrier Dome was otherwise occupied. Now they have the Melo Center.

I wont go into detail about the new Melo Center but it is a state of the art practice facility specifically for the basketball team. This facility will be the difference when high school All-Americans are choosing between choosing Syracuse and UConn.That and the fact that Jim Calhoun may very well retiring very soon.

Retirement is going to happen for Boeheim as well. Not as soon as Calhoun I would think, but within the next 3-4 years. It's really not a concern for SU fans though. The Orange have one of the best assistant coaches (and recruiters) in the country in Mike Hopkins. Hopkins surely would have left SU by now for a head coaching job had the Athletic Director not had the foresight to promise Hopkins the head job at Syracuse once Boeheim steps down.

Locking up Hopkins long-term is a brilliant move. Between his extensive knowledge of Boeheim's incredibly effective zone defense, the new Melo Center, and other emerging assistant coaches like rap star Troy Murphy, McDonald's All-Americans will be flocking to central New York in the years to come.

And that is the difference between now and then. Talent. Boeheim has made a great career with average talent. Average recruiting classes.

Boeheim and Hopkins no longer have to do more with less. They'll have more, and they'll do more.