Syracuse men’s basketball: Francis Folefac gives the Orange another versatile defender
On Monday, Francis Folefac turned the third Siena participant to observe Gerry McNamara from the Saints to Syracuse. Unlike Tasman Goodrick and Gavin Doty, Folefac coming to Syracuse did not occur instantly. He reportedly took a go to to Georgia Tech along with SU, however he ultimately adopted that very same path.
As a freshman, Folefac appeared in each recreation for Siena, turning into an more and more necessary piece of the rotation as the yr went on. He instantly scored 11 factors in 13 minutes in his first collegiate recreation, an 82-66 opening evening win over Bryant, and scored in double figures 5 extra occasions earlier than November ended.
He entered the beginning lineup completely on December 22 in a loss to Indiana, the place he scored 19 factors. From that time ahead, he performed 30.8 minutes per recreation, up from the 22.8 that he performed in the first 12 contests of the season.
Goodrick did not play after early December, and Antonio Chandler was dominated ineligible heading into the remaining stretch of the season, so Folefac’s position grew heading into the MAAC Tournament in Atlantic City. He performed 36 minutes in a win over Fairfield in the semifinal, placing up 10 factors and 9 rebounds with 5 assists. After that recreation, I requested Folefac about the enlargement of his position over the course of the yr.
“Just doing whatever I can to help the team win,” Folefac mentioned. “Coach puts a lot of faith in me to be able to do a lot of things on the court, and our staff trusts me, my teammates trust me. I just wanted to come in and do whatever I can to fill that void for us.”
That belief was greatest exemplified two nights later, when Folefac was given the task to protect MAAC Player of the Year Kevair Kennedya speedy level guard now dedicated to Wake Forest, in the championship recreation towards Merrimack.
In the earlier matchup with the Warriors, senior guard Justice Shoats drew the Kennedy task, and uncharacteristically fouled out in simply 11 minutes. It was the solely foul out of his Saints profession. The teaching employees knew that in an effort to beat Merrimack, Shoats needed to keep on the flooring, and so they wanted a special reply for Kennedy, who completed with 32 factors on 16-16 from the line in that February matchup.
So that reply was Folefac, placing size and power on him, and daring him to take outdoors photographs by sagging off and going beneath screens. It allowed Folefac to bodily dominate the matchup, holding Kennedy to simply 4 free throw makes an attempt and 5-18 from the subject.
“I trust Francis Folefac guarding anyone at any position,” then-Siena assistant, now Syracuse assistant coach Ben Lee told me after the championship game. “(Kennedy) is a handful 15 feet and in. Francis is an elite, elite defender. So just his length and physicality, I thought it was the best look for us.”
“We challenged him yesterday,” McNamara mentioned after the championship recreation. “And just like he has all year, he comes in ready. Francis Folefac helped change the trajectory from last year to this year.”
“Francis is a dawg, he’s a different beast,” Doty mentioned after the championship recreation. “His length and physicality, and he can guard a guard, he can really guard a big. GMac challenged him Monday and said ‘Hey, you’re starting on Kennedy,’ and I didn’t think that was going to be the case, but the more I thought about it, I was like ‘wow, this is a really good scout and I think Francis will do an amazing job on him,’ and he did.”
McNamara had excessive reward when requested about why Folefac was the selection to protect Kennedy.
“In those (game scouting) conversations, (our staff has) a great deal of confidence in Francis Folefac,” he mentioned. “There’s not a thing I don’t think he could do. He’s long, he’s athletic, he’s strong. He can score in the post, he can handle the ball, he can do everything. He can defend anybody. So the more we discussed it, the more everything fell into place.”
And Folefac accepted the problem.
“When coach told me I would be guarding the player of the year, rookie of the year, there wasn’t anything I wanted more,” Folefac informed me after the recreation. “I couldn’t wait for the opportunity. I feel like I’m a high-level defender and I can guard any position.”
His versatility continued to point out in the subsequent recreation that the Saints performed, facing Duke in the NCAA Tournament. Folefac dealt with the Cam Boozer task for a lot of the evening. He’ll be requested to be Syracuse’s swiss-army knife subsequent season, but it surely’s not simply on the defensive finish.
Folefac confirmed offensive growth over the course of the season, rising as an incredible passer for the Saints as the yr went on. From February 1 till the finish of the season, Folefac was seventh amongst all freshmen listed 6 foot 6 or taller nationally in assists per recreation with 3.2. Among mid-major freshmen, solely Connor Igoe (Columbia) and Leif Moeller (Evansville) at that top averaged extra throughout that stretch.
After ending with seven assists in a loss to Saint Peter’s in early February, McNamara mentioned Folefac’s development.
“If you go single coverage, he’s gonna get a good shot,” McNamara mentioned. “If you send a secondary defender, he’s good enough and talented enough to make plays.”
Folefac actually has its weaknesses. He’s not a lot of a three-point shooter at the second, and his physique makes him a bit of little bit of a positional tweener as nicely, however that may change in time.
I’ll have a extra detailed movie breakdown on Folefac and all of Syracuse’s additions over the course of the offseason.
