Eddie Lampkin providing leadership to Syracuse basketball

For anyone who had an opportunity to watch the NCAA tournament last year, specifically the Colorado Buffaloes, amongst great scoring from Tristan Da Silva and KJ Simpson, there was a big man whose impact was much more significant than his numbers reflected, Eddie Lampkin Jr. 

Lampkin was the "glue guy," a 6'11 ", 265-pound center who started in 36 of 37 games, averaging 10 points, seven rebounds, and two assists last season and led the Buffaloes to a program record 26 wins. Lampkin scored 13 points three times in the tournament, and 21 in the Buffs win over Florida. The Buffaloes also made a run to the Sweet-16. 

Lampkin is exactly the type of guy Syracuse needs in its locker room. 

A week after the Buffs lost to Marquette, Lampkin entered the transfer portal and committed to Syracuse the day after. This marked Syracuse and head coach Adrian Autry's first portal player of the offseason. Coming to Syracuse, Lampkin is an invaluable piece, a high-level energy guy who will provide leadership.

"High IQ, great team guy, his leadership has been off the charts," said Coach Autry to start Media Day. "Everyone will be excited to watch him play. He competes at a high level; he competes to win." 

While most will look to see Lampkin's scoring production, that's not what he looks forward to. Lampkin is a team-first guy who looks to get his teammates involved, passing and rebounding for the guys around him. He transferred to Syracuse because that was the role he wanted to take on.

"I love watching in the NBA, Nikola Jokic. I'm not saying Lampkin is Jokic… But the ability to swing the ball side to side and pass. He fits with what I and we want to do," coach Autry said. 

With the shooting talent already on the Orange roster and the transfers brought in, Lampkin will have great shooters around him. His ability to play at the top of the key and run an offense will be a heavy focus for Autry's offense. 

Lampkin will don the highly coveted #44 for the Orange this season. For Lampkin, who also wore 44 at Colorado, the number symbolizes home.

"Where I'm from, that's our number in our neighborhood," said Lampkin. "Being able to come somewhere that it's a legendary number is like, why not me?"

Some of Syracuse's best all-time players have worn that number, including Derrick Coleman and John Wallace. Coleman is the second-leading scorer of all time at Syracuse and became the first overall pick. While Wallace wore 44, he came in third on the all-time leading scorers list for Syracuse with a deep tournament run. However, connecting the generations of players could also be necessary, especially in this day and age of college athletics.

Nobody is saying Lampkin will be one of those guys, as guys like Wallace and Coleman are few and far between. The 6'11", 265-pound center is here to carve his own lane and bring Cuse basketball back to the forefront.

"I just wanted to come somewhere I could play my game and help them get back to the tournament," said Lampkin. 

Lampkin and the Orange will open the campaign against Le Moyne on November 4th at 7 p.m. in the JMA Dome.