# 2002–03 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team

The 2002–03 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team represented Syracuse University in NCAA men's basketball competition in the 2002–03 Division I season. The head coach was Jim Boeheim, serving for his 27th year. The team played its home games at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. The team finished with a 30–5 (13–3) record, while capturing its first modern-era NCAA Championship.
The team had just one senior, guard Kueth Duany. He was joined in the starting lineup by forwards Hakim Warrick (sophomore), Carmelo Anthony (freshman), center Craig Forth (sophomore), and guard Gerry McNamara (freshman). Other key contributors included guards Josh Pace (sophomore) and Billy Edelin (freshman), and center Jeremy McNeil (junior).

## Season recap

Things did not start well for Syracuse. Guards DeShaun Williams and James Thues both left the team. Williams transferred to Iona while Thues left for Detroit. Freshman point guard Billy Edelin was suspended for 12 games for participating in a non-sanctioned basketball league. Syracuse then started its season with a loss against Memphis, despite Carmelo Anthony's 27 points, a then-high for a Syracuse freshman debut.
But things turned around, as Syracuse went 13–3 in the Big East, with several memorable wins. McNamara would establish himself as a clutch player, nailing a game-winning 3-pointer as then-No. 17 Syracuse notched an 82–80 win over then-No. 10 Notre Dame in February. In an upset of then-No. 24 Syracuse over then-No. 2 Pittsburgh, McNeil, a career 49.1% free throw shooter, hit two key free throws, and added a game-winning tip in a 67–65 upset.
The Orangemen would play five Big 12 teams throughout the year, including games against Missouri in the regular season, and against Oklahoma (Elite Eight), Oklahoma State (second round), Texas (National Semifinal) and then Kansas (National Championship game).
In the championship game against Kansas, with Syracuse leading by three with under 15 seconds left, Warrick missed two free throws that would've sealed the game with Syracuse hanging on to a three-point lead, 81–78. With 1.5 seconds left and the score still the same, Kansas' Michael Lee was open on the baseline for a potential game-tying 3-pointer. But Warrick used his long arms to block Lee's attempt and Syracuse captured its first-ever national championship.
Coincidentally, the game was played in the Superdome in New Orleans, where Syracuse had lost the National Championship to Indiana in 1987 on a last-second shot by Keith Smart.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season |||||||||
| Nov 14, 2002* 7 pm, ESPN 2 | | vs. Memphis Coaches vs. Cancer Classic | L 63–70 | 0–1 | 27 – Anthony | 11 – Tied | 3 – McNamara | Madison Square Garden (8,826) New York, NY |
| Nov 24, 2002* 1 pm, N/A | | Valparaiso | W 81–66 | 1–1 | 28 – Anthony | 10 – Tied | 6 – Pace | Carrier Dome (18,874) Syracuse, NY |
| Dec 3, 2002* 7 pm, N/A | | Colgate | W 98–68 | 2–1 | 27 – Anthony | 11 – Anthony | 7 – Pace | Carrier Dome (15,615) Syracuse, NY |
| Dec 6, 2002* 7 pm, N/A | | Cornell | W 85–62 | 3–1 | 21 – Anthony | 10 – Tied | 5 – Tied | Carrier Dome (16,384) Syracuse, NY |
| Dec 10, 2003* 7 pm, N/A | | UNC Greensboro | W 92–65 | 4–1 | 23 – Warrick | 8 – Forth | 4 – Anthony | Carrier Dome (16,941) Syracuse, NY |
| Dec 14, 2002* 7 pm, N/A | | Binghamton | W 94–58 | 5–1 | 24 – Anthony | 11 – Anthony | 5 – Anthony | Carrier Dome (19,770) Syracuse, NY |
| Dec 21, 2002* 12 pm, ESPN | | Georgia Tech | W 92–65 | 6–1 | 25 – McNamara | 11 – Tied | 10 – McNamara | Carrier Dome (18,804) Syracuse, NY |
| Dec 28, 2002* 7 pm, N/A | | Albany | W 109–79 | 7–1 | 28 – Anthony | 9 – Tied | 9 – McNamara | Carrier Dome (18,683) Syracuse, NY |
| Dec 30, 2002* 7 pm, N/A | | Canisius | W 87–69 | 8–1 | 25 – Warrick | 14 – Anthony | 3 – Tied | Carrier Dome (17,305) Syracuse, NY |
| Jan 8, 2003 7:30 pm, ESPN Regional | | at Seton Hall | W 70–66 | 9–1 (1–0) | 20 – Duany | 7 – Warrick | 5 – McNamara | Continental Airlines Arena (8,415) East Rutherford, NJ |
| Jan 11, 2003 7 pm, N/A | | Boston College | W 82–74 | 10–1 (2–0) | 24 – Tied | 15 – Warrick | 5 – Tied | Carrier Dome (20,692) Syracuse, NY |
| Jan 13, 2003* 7 pm, ESPN | | No. 11 Missouri | W 76–69 | 11–1 | 20 – Warrick | 10 – Anthony | 7 – McNamara | Carrier Dome (18,756) Syracuse, NY |
| Jan 18, 2003 12 pm, ESPN | | at No. 3 Pittsburgh | L 60–73 | 11–2 (2–1) | 19 – McNamara | 10 – Warrick | 3 – McNamara | Petersen Events Center (12,508) Pittsburgh, PA |
| Jan 22, 2003 7 pm, ESPN Regional | | Seton Hall | W 83–65 | 12–2 (3–1) | 22 – Warrick | 10 – Warrick | 6 – Tied | Carrier Dome (17,119) Syracuse, NY |
| Jan 26, 2003 1 pm, CBS | | at Miami | W 54–49 | 13–2 (4–1) | 18 – Warrick | 14 – Anthony | 4 – Tied | Ryder Center (5,789) Coral Gables, FL |
| Jan 29, 2003 7:30 pm, ESPN Regional | | at Rutgers | L 65–68 | 13–3 (4–2) | 17 – Anthony | 11 – Warrick | 5 – Tied | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,007) Piscataway, NJ |
| Feb 1, 2003 7 pm, ESPN Regional | | No. 2 Pittsburgh | W 67–65 | 14–3 (5–2) | 20 – Warrick | 13 – Anthony | 4 – McNamara | Carrier Dome (30,303) Syracuse, NY |
| Feb 3, 2003 7 pm, ESPN | No. 21 | Georgetown | W 88–80 | 15–3 (6–2) | 22 – Tied | 7 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Carrier Dome (20,702) Syracuse, NY |
| Feb 8, 2003 4 pm, ESPN Regional | No. 21 | at West Virginia | W 94–80 | 16–3 (7–2) | 29 – Anthony | 12 – Anthony | 12 – McNamara | WVU Coliseum (13,092) Morgantown, WV |
| Feb 10, 2003 7 pm, ESPN | No. 18 | at No. 19 Connecticut | L 61–75 | 16–4 (7–3) | 29 – Anthony | 11 – Anthony | 4 – McNamara | Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, CT |
| Feb 15, 2003 1 pm, ESPN | No. 18 | No. 9 Notre Dame | W 82–80 | 17–4 (8–3) | 26 – Anthony | 12 – Warrick | 6 – McNamara | Carrier Dome (32,116) Syracuse, NY |
| Feb 18, 2003 7 pm, ESPN 2 | No. 17 | St. John's | W 66–60 | 18–4 (9–3) | 21 – Anthony | 13 – Anthony | 5 – McNamara | Carrier Dome (21,044) Syracuse, NY |
| Feb 23, 2003* 2 pm, CBS | No. 17 | at Michigan State | W 76–75 | 19–4 | 25 – Anthony | 8 – Warrick | 4 – Anthony | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 26, 2003 7 pm, ESPN Regional | No. 15 | West Virginia | W 89–51 | 20–4 (10–3) | 24 – Anthony | 10 – Anthony | 6 – McNamara | Carrier Dome (19,484) Syracuse, NY |
| Mar 1, 2003 1 pm, ABC | No. 15 | at Georgetown | W 93–84 $^{OT}$ | 21–4 (11–3) | 30 – Anthony | 18 – Warrick | 2 – Tied | MCI Center (17,352) Washington, D.C. |
| Mar 4, 2003 7 pm, ESPN 2 | No. 12 | at No. 16 Notre Dame | W 92–88 | 22–4 (12–3) | 26 – Edelin | 13 – Warrick | 7 – Warrick | Joyce Center (11,450) South Bend, IN |
| Mar 9, 2003 2 pm, N/A | No. 12 | Rutgers | W 83–74 | 23–4 (13–3) | 30 – Anthony | 14 – Anthony | 7 – McNamara | Carrier Dome (33,071) Syracuse, NY |
| Big East tournament |||||||||
| Mar 13, 2003 7 pm, ESPN | (1 W) No. 11 | vs. (5 W) Georgetown Quarterfinals | W 74–69 | 24–4 | 21 – Anthony | 8 – Forth | 3 – McNamara | Madison Square Garden (19,528) New York, NY |
| Mar 14, 2003 9 pm, ESPN | (1 W) No. 11 | vs. (2 E) Connecticut Semifinals | L 67–80 | 24–5 | 29 – Anthony | 15 – Anthony | 3 – McNamara | Madison Square Garden (19,528) New York, NY |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| Mar 21, 2003* 12:15 pm, CBS | (3 E) No. 13 | vs. (14 E) Manhattan First Round | W 76–65 | 25–5 | 17 – Anthony | 9 – Anthony | 4 – Tied | FleetCenter (18,141) Boston, MA |
| Mar 23, 2003* 2:40 pm, CBS | (3 E) No. 13 | vs. (6 E) No. 23 Oklahoma State Second Round | W 68–56 | 26–5 | 20 – Edelin | 6 – McNamara | 8 – Tied | FleetCenter (18,389) Boston, MA |
| Mar 28, 2003* 9:40 pm, CBS | (3 E) No. 13 | vs. (10 E) Auburn Sweet Sixteen | W 79–78 | 27–5 | 18 – Anthony | 8 – Anthony | 4 – Edelin | Pepsi Arena (15,093) Albany, NY |
| Mar 30, 2003* 2:40 pm, CBS | (3 E) No. 13 | vs. (1 E) No. 3 Oklahoma Elite Eight | W 63–47 | 28–5 | 20 – Anthony | 10 – Anthony | 4 – Warrick | Pepsi Arena (15,207) Albany, NY |
| Apr 5, 2003* 8:40 pm, CBS | (3 E) No. 13 | vs. (1 S) No. 5 Texas Final Four | W 95–84 | 29–5 | 33 – Anthony | 14 – Anthony | 4 – Tied | Louisiana Superdome (54,432) New Orleans, LA |
| Apr 7, 2003* 9:20 pm, CBS | (3 E) No. 13 | vs. (2 W) No. 6 Kansas National Championship | W 81–78 | 30–5 | 20 – Anthony | 10 – Anthony | 7 – Anthony | Louisiana Superdome (54,524) New Orleans, LA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||

## Roster

| Name | Number | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | PPG | APG | RPG |
| Hakim Warrick | 1 | F | 6–9 | 219 | Sophomore | Philadelphia, PA | 14.8 | 1.6 | 8.5 |
| Gerry McNamara | 3 | G | 6–2 | 182 | Freshman | Scranton, PA | 13.3 | 4.4 | 2.3 |
| Josh Pace | 5 | G/F | 6–5 | 190 | Sophomore | Griffin, GA | 4.3 | 1.9 | 2.7 |
| Kueth Duany | 13 | G/F | 6–6 | 190 | Senior | Sudan/Bloomington, IN | 11.0 | 2.0 | 3.7 |
| Billy Edelin | 14 | G | 6–4 | 195 | Freshman | Silver Spring, MD | 9.0 | 2.5 | 3.4 |
| Carmelo Anthony | 15 | F | 6–8 | 230 | Freshman | Baltimore, MD | 22.2 | 2.2 | 10.0 |
| Matt Gorman | 24 | F/C | 6–9 | 235 | Freshman | Watertown, NY | 2.3 | 0.1 | 2.1 |
| Jeremy McNeil | 34 | C | 6–8 | 257 | Junior | San Antonio, TX | 3.3 | 0.2 | 4.2 |
| Craig Forth | 51 | C | 7–1 | 255 | Sophomore | Albany, NY | 3.8 | 0.9 | 3.3 |
| Andrew Kouwe | 10 | PG | 6–0 | 170 | Junior | Tampa, FL | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Ronneil Herron | 11 | G | 5–11 | 158 | Senior | Warner Robins, GA | 1.2 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Tyrone Albright | 2 | G | 5–11 | 165 | Junior | Syracuse, NY | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Gary Hall | 23 | F | 6–6 | 230 | Junior | Tully, NY | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Josh Brooks | 21 | F | 6–5 | 180 | Junior | Saranac, NY | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |