Last season, a personal visit from Jim Boeheim was enough to reel in four-star center Taurean Thompson. Unfortunately for Boeheim, he isn’t quite as important to Thompson as Thompson’s mother. Earlier in the summer, Thompson announced he would not be returning to Syracuse for his Sophomore season because he wants to be closer to his mother in New York City. Today, he decided he will be taking his talents to South Orange, New Jersey, to play for our Twitter buddies, the Seton Hall Pirates.
From app.com’s Jerry Carino:
Following his much-publicized withdrawal from Syracuse men’s basketball, talented power forward Taurean Thompson has enrolled at Seton Hall, Gannett New Jersey has learned. After sitting out the upcoming season per NCAA transfer rules, Thompson projects to be an impact starter for the Pirates in 2018-19 following the departure of frontcourt mainstays Angel Delgado and Ish Sanogo.
After a rough freshman year of my own, the first thing I said to my mom on winter break was “I am transferring and I am applying to only Gonzaga and Oregon.” I am from Philly, as I have documented. Needless to say, my mother responded promptly with, “No.” So whether I wanted it or not, I can completely understand the proximity to your mom thing. Moms rock.
This shakeup is big news for east-coast college basketball, though. For Syracuse, Boeheim is losing a guy that fits into his system on both sides of the ball. He is a big, long defensive stopper that can plug into the base of the always-used 2-3 zone. Offensively, he is a player that showed a lot of promise in his freshman year.
On the other hand, that is what Seton Hall is inheriting. They add a guy for the future who, in his one season in Syracuse, averaged 6 and 3 in just under 17 minutes on 54% shooting. That’s great efficiency from a young, energetic big man. Also, the six-foot-10 Thompson put on 25 pounds of muscle in his freshman season. I have Wendy’s like twice a week and I haven’t even put that on in burger fat in three years of college. This kid is a worker.
Someone needs to fill the void that the ball magnet known as Angel Delgado is going to leave. Taurean Thompson has the potential to be exactly that player for the Pirates.
P.S. I want basketball back. Please come back, basketball. I want to see Miles Bridges punish rims and Nova either win a National Championship or break my heart in the first weekend again.