Sports

Syracuse Hoops Coach Throws Team Under Bus For Inability To Guard Former Player He Refused To Start

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Adrian Autry / Syracuse Orange

© Rich Barnes-Imagn Images


The Syracuse basketball season slid further into disappointment with a 20-point loss to ACC rival North Carolina State on Tuesday. Head coach Adrian Autry was critical of his team after the fact.

He called out a lack of effort while addressing the media during the postgame. The team’s inability to stop a former Orange contributor ignited his frustration.

Syracuse entered the night at 3-4 in conference play and in need of a spark. They wouldn’t get it.

The Orange fell behind early in the road trip to Raleigh. They trailed by four at the halftime break, though that deficit would grow over the final 20 minutes.

Syracuse was down 55-51 with a little more than 11 minutes remaining in regulation. They were outscored 33-17 the rest of the way. Quadir Copeland was a problem.

Former Syracuse basketball player chewed up the Orange.

Copeland scored 19 points and added nine assists vs. his old team to nearly notch a double-double. It was a revenge game for the guard who once played for Adrian Autry.

Copeland signed with Syracuse as a four-star talent in the ’22 recruiting class. He spent two seasons at the university, sticking through a coaching change after Jim Boeheim’s retirement.

In Year 1, he played sparingly, averaging nine minutes across 20 appearances while scoring 2.1 points per contest. His role grew in his second season. He became a key contributor for Autry’s bunch.

The guard finished second in the ACC Sixth Man of the Year voting. He finished his campaign with a scoring clip just under 10 points.

While he did see action in 32 contests, he started just once. He was the third option at guard behind transfer JJ Starling. Starling was once a Top 100 recruit, though some might argue Copeland was more effective during his time on the court.

Copeland opted to leave after his sophomore season. That change of scenery has been beneficial.

Quadir Copeland transferred.

He landed at McNeese last year to help Will Wade and the Cowboys reach the NCAA Tournament. He then followed his coach to NC State this offseason.

In Raleigh, he’s shined.

The senior has started all 21 of the Wolfpack’s games. He is averaging career highs with 14.3 points and 6.3 dimes per night. He saved one of his best performances for his old team.

Adrian Autry was frustrated with his defense’s inability to stop his former player. He threw his backcourt under the bus in his postgame press conference.

“He was the only one that was trying,” Autry said when asked about his decision to leave Sadiq White in the game with four fouls. “I thought he did a decent enough job to keep some length on.. Quadir.”

Autry questioned his team’s effort in defending a former player. Quadir Copeland had extra motivation to beat his old team.

With the loss, the Syracuse basketball team fell to 12-9 on the year and squarely out of the NCAA Tournament mix.