The Daily Orange

The Syracuse table at Big East media day, which has been rather desolate in recent years, was one of the most popular destinations here at the Hotel Viking Tuesday morning. Reporters from around the country crowded around to ask Marrone about Greg Paulus, a former standout point guard at Duke who will play football for the Orange this season.

Paulus addressed both the local and national media in separate sessions for the first time since being named the Orange's starting quarterback late Monday night. Head coach Doug Marrone gave Paulus the nod over redshirt freshman Ryan Nassib after just one full week of summer practice.

Jeremy Thompson, a top midfielder from Onondaga Community College and one of the most heralded lacrosse prospects in the country, has been accepted to Syracuse University and has enrolled in summer classes, a university spokesman confirmed Friday. Thompson's admittance to SU ends years of speculation about the recruit coming to Syracuse - a goal of his since childhood.

Curtis Brinkley, a former Syracuse tailback, was shot while driving through a Philadelphia suburb just after midnight Friday, according to a report by the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is in stable condition in the intensive care unit at Einstein Medical Center.

NEW YORK -- Flynn was selected with the No. 6 overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves here at Madison Square Garden, officially closing the door on his two-year Syracuse career. After workouts and interviews for nine NBA teams during the last several weeks, Flynn propelled up the draft board and quickly became one of the most coveted players in a draft class laden with talented point guards.

NEW YORK -- Growing up in Niagara, N.Y. with his grandparents, Dexter Harris, Jr. shared more than just a neighborhood with Jonny Flynn. The two played basketball and baseball together. Harris' cousin, Paul, was a teammate of Jonny's in high school and at Syracuse.

NEW YORK - The teams looking for a point guard in this year's NBA Draft appear to be in luck. There are plenty to choose from. In fact, up to nine point guards will potentially be selected in the first round Thursday night, including five in the top 10. Jonny Flynn, who left Syracuse after his sophomore season to go pro, will certainly be one of those guards.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Kenny Nims struggled to sift through the sea of television cameras, teammates and abandoned equipment. His face, a smeared canvas of blood and eye black, welled with tears as he gripped the national championship trophy in his right hand and demanded to see his head coach.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass.-- Cody Jamieson had just scored the game-winning goal in overtime of the NCAA championship, but he didn't celebrate at that moment. He had to make his across the field to find a close friend. So he dashed across Gillette Stadium, darting through the hashes closer and closer to his pal, Sid Smith.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - As John Desko embraced Kenny Nims on the field at Gillette Stadium, his son, Tim, dumped a bucket of Gatorade over his head. Desko laughed. The SU head coach won a national championship - again. Desko's Orange won the 2009 national title, giving Syracuse back-to-back titles for the first time during Desko's tenure at SU.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Matt Abbott wants to end his career at Syracuse by winning "just one more game." Syracuse has won many games with Abbott, a senior midfielder, playing offense and defense for the Orange - 46 to be exact under the reign of SU head coach John Desko, the most-winningest active coach in college lacrosse.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Sean Keenan knew the way to get Cornell head coach Jeff Tambroni's attention. Kennan, the head coach at Smithtown High School West, had an ace prospect in his back pocket - one of the best players he'd ever coached - and just needed the right way to introduce him to Tambroni.

FOXBOROUGH, MASS. - Stephen Keogh shook his head back and forth in disbelief as he stood outside the Syracuse locker room after SU's final four matchup against Duke. Keogh said he didn't expect this. Defeating Duke by 10 goals didn't seem possible to Keogh.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - It's easy for Pat Perritt to play the numbers game at Syracuse. Sharing the midfield with two All-Americans makes it that way. When Perritt steps on the field he knows two things are for certain: he won't normally draw the longpole defender - that goes to Dan Hardy.

FOXOBOROUGH, MASS. - John Galloway knew the type of game fans expected between Duke and Syracuse. With such high-powered offenses, the sophomore goalie for the Orange was cognizant that most expected a "run-and-gun game" between the teams. Syracuse's offense held up its part of the bargain with 17 goals, but the SU defense did not let Duke meet quota on its end.

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - In his first career start, Cavalieri played like a seasoned veteran in the net here at Shuart Stadium on the campus of Hofstra, propelling No. 2 Syracuse to an 11-6 victory over Maryland in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament in front of a crowd of 11,259. Cavalieri saved 14-of-26 shots and the defending champions advanced to the final four at Gillette Stadium next Saturday to face the winner of Duke and North Carolina.

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - John Lade said the feeling was indescribable. Rendered speechless momentarily after the game, the sophomore transfer and starting defender was numb with elation as the reality sunk in - he was going to the final four for the first time. "I'm so pumped for next weekend," Lade said.

When Greg Paulus lined up under center at Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse, N.Y. earlier this decade, he connected on many touchdown passes to current SU receiver Lavar Lobdell. But even though the two might be hooking up on touchdown patterns again this fall, the newest member of the Orange isn't pondering that scenario happening on a college field - yet.

Despite playing less than one quarter all season, Cody Jamieson scored three goals and dished an assist in Syracuse's 11-4 win over Siena in the NCAA tournament opening round.

Motivated by the playoff atmosphere, the No. 2 seed Syracuse cruised to an 11-4 victory over Siena Sunday, charged by a newly added incentive: Win, and you play next week. Lose, and the season is done.

Syracuse attack Katie Rowan scored 11 points, as the Orange beat Boston University, 20-10, in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

John Desko said it is like déjà vu. Last season, Syracuse played MAAC champion Canisius in the first round of the NCAA tournament, then looked ahead to Notre Dame in the second round. The Orange advanced, of course, winning each of its four games on the road to becoming the 2008 national champions.

On a sun-splashed Saturday morning in September 2005, I woke up early in my Flint Hall dorm room and prepared to become a Syracuse fan. Guys from my floor packed into my room at the end of the hall. We drank shots of rum. Paint was scrawled across chests.

Gary Gait wanted to make his team's strength of schedule better. He felt it would help if they had more quality wins come Selection Sunday for the NCAA tournament. It worked, lifting the team to an at-large NCAA tournament bid despite the team's loss in the first round of the Big East tournament.

Entering the season, senior Amy Kelley had hoped her class would somehow find a way to leave its mark on the Syracuse softball program, a mark on the program that would carry down through the years. And after leading the Orange to its second-best record in program history, the class may be well on its way.

The Syracuse track and field teams move on to the second portion of their postseason schedule this weekend, as the men's team heads to the IC4A outdoor championship and the women's team is off to the ECAC championships. On the men's side, SU qualified a 15-man team, including six sprinters and hurdlers, seven distance runners and two jumpers, to this weekend's meet in Princeton, N.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Stephen Keogh shook his head back and forth in disbelief as he stood outside the Syracuse locker room after SU's final four matchup against Duke. Keogh said he didn't expect this. Defeating Duke by 10 goals didn't seem possible to Keogh.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Hanging in the upper-left corner of the wall in the hallway to the Cornell locker room is a brown cardboard sign with "I will give my all for Cornell" written in black ink. The sign, made by senior Tommy Schmicker, is a replica of the one hanging in the Cornell locker room in Ithaca, N.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - It's easy for Pat Perritt to play the numbers game at Syracuse. Sharing the midfield with two All-Americans makes it that way. When Perritt steps on the field he knows two things are for certain: he won't normally draw the longpole defender - that goes to Dan Hardy.

FOXOBOROUGH, Mass. - John Galloway knew the type of game fans expected between Duke and Syracuse. With such high-powered offenses, the sophomore goalie for the Orange was cognizant that most expected a "run-and-gun game" between the teams. Syracuse's offense held up its part of the bargain with 17 goals, but the SU defense did not let Duke meet quota on its end.

Syracuse will try and win its second straight national championship for the first time in John Desko's tenure, as the No. 2 Orange faces No. 3 Duke in the final four Saturday here at Gillette Stadium (noon, ESPN2). The winner will take either Virginia or Cornell in the finals Monday.

Crotty's 76 points this season is good for a team-best and good enough to have him as one of the 2009 Tewaaraton Trophy finalists. His personal accolades have boosted his team into the final four. Duke (15-3) will take on defending national champions Syracuse (14-2) Saturday (noon, ESPN2) at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

Thirty-three years and three NCAA championships later, Starsia finds his top-seeded Virginia team facing off against a No. 5 seed Cornell program that cultivated his foyer into coaching. At Gillette Stadium Saturday at 2 p.m. in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament, Starsia will channel his past watching the Big Red in order to propel his Cavaliers to the championship game.