It did not take Aiden Tobiason long to realize the next steps in his mind for continuing his college basketball career, aligned directly with Gerry McNamara's vision for what he needed from an outside shooting threat, combined with a player that can finish inside the arc to produce the desired results - scoring points.
In mid-April, Tobiason and his family drove from Wilmington, Del. up to Syracuse, were immediately impressed by the picture G-Mac laid out, and his transfer commitment soon followed. An upcoming (May) trip the NBA G-League Combine, meant McNamara knew his new player was going to face great athletes to match his rising development as a 6-6, 210 lbs. athlete with a nearly 7-foot wingspan.
After scoring in double figures in 27 of 32 games last season with the Owls, capping off two years with the program, and heading into next Tuesday's (Oct. 13) first of three exhibition road games against as formidable an opponent that McNamara could line up to immediately test his rebuilt roster in UConn (7:00 p.m. ET / UConn Sports+), Tobiason is ready for his role as the projected starter on the wing.
By jumping his scoring average by +10.5 points a game from his frosh to sophomore seasons, Tobiason became one of the top scorers in the American Conference last season for a Temple team that finished .500, He averaged nearly 16 points a game, and scored over 20 points seven times.
Tobiason gained great experience at the May G-League event showing scoring versatility, and matching up with other future professional players. During summer workouts and so far in preseason practice, the biggest element of the game he has been thinking about is not shooting, but playmaking.
"I was playng point (guard) a lot over the summer, trying to make reads faster just playing more on the ball," Tobiason explained Wednesday at ACC Tipoff in Charlotte.
"I'm still going to shoot the three (34% from beyond the arc last season), still cut, get some dunks in there," he added. "But I definately want to show I can be a playmaker."
With some six hoops offers from lower Div. I schools out of St. Elizabeth High School in Wilmington, Tobiason also played a lot of scholastic golf learning from his Dad Michael, who was an All-American golfer at nearby Div. II Goldy-Beacom College and played professionally in the early 2000s.
in fact, when queried by the ACC Tipoff's annual moderator Trip Durham about his golf game while on stage Wednesday, Tobiason impressed the media audience saying his 6-iron was "for sure" his best club, and with the stick can drive the ball a whopping "205-to-210" yards.
Now it is time to get ready for his third collegiate season, a Northeast basketball fan growing up who well knows the trials and tribulations of the Orange program this decade. Approaching six months on campus and in the community, Tobiason has absorbed the pain of an ardent fan base that is dying to win a lot of postseason games.
"Talking to the fans, they are really eager to have Syracuse back winning in March (the expanded NCAA field of 76) and back on the map, and I really feel compassion with them," Tobiason said in Charlotte.
"Our whole team feels it," he added. "It runs through our veins in practice. It is all about getting Syracuse back, to where Syracuse was."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/syracuse as Syracuse basketball's new scoring threat ready to help SU get back to the NCAA Tourney .
