Syracuse was 18-0 and a top-five team in college basketball, but the Orangemen have lost four in a row since starting the year strongly. They were wiped out at home last week 90-68 by Seton Hall, leaving many fans with questions. Apparently those questions have resulted in rumors, such as one posted on a gambling site saying Cuse players Scoop Jardine, Dion Waiters, and James Southerland have been shaving points.
Jardine hasn’t played his best in the four losses and was particularly awful against Villanova, but that in no way implies he was shaving points. Waiters and Southerland are both reserves and neither played in the loss to Marquette, but both have seen plenty of minutes in each of the team’s conference games. The DNPs were Waiters’ first of the year and fourth for Southerland, and the DNP seemed to be punishment for Waiters. Clearly Waiters’ status with coach Jim Boeheim is in question, but that is most likely due to his attitude.
Two speculative reports came out Tuesday suggesting the players were shaving points and that led to fans questioning the players on twitter. Rather than ignoring the bombardment, Scoop Jardine made what KC radio host Nick Wright described as an awful move. Here’s what Scoop wrote on twitter, as Wright alerted me:
It’s possible the story disappears within a day and the players have no reason to worry, or this could take a turn for the ugly. Only time will tell what happens with the story, but hopefully it’s all nonsense.
The Cuse is 7-13 ATS on the season, worst in the Big East.
UPDATE: The rumors were addressed and completely denied. Syraucse went on to have a fine season going 27-8 and losing in the second round of the NCAA tournament to Marquette.
