Syracuse MBB HC Gerry McNamara brought two new players with him to the ACC Tipoff event in Charlotte this week. Gavin Doty and Aidan Tobiason were the Orange players who met with the media and here's a little bit of what they shared.
Doty and Tobiason made the rounds with the ACC Network and the Field of 68 and it's clear that the Fulton native is excited to pull on the script Syracuse.
"I only dreamed of it to be honest with you. I only dreamed of it. Uh it had been a dream of mine really since I was watching games in there really really young but uh you know God is good man extremely blessed to be able to put on this jersey and and take court there this year."
Doty said that GMac is ready to turn another program around and that they want to bring the type of basketball back to the Dome that Orange fans will appreciate.
"Dome is one of the greatest venues in the sport, I know our fans are really looking forward to it and we need some revival man…..we're here to get back to playing big games in March……I'm all about winning, and this is my hometown. So to be able to step foot and play in the dome and have the whole hometown behind me is like no other."
Tobiason hasn't spent as much time in the Dome as Doty, but he took away a strong impression in his first practice. "Seeing the court down for the first time and seeing the natural sunlight come through the roof is beautiful"
The Temple transfer said that his takeaway from his experience at the G-League Combine was that he had to be prepared for more contact. "The biggest thing I took away from it was the physicality standpoint of it, it's much more physical than college basketball."
Both players said that the Orange would be playing with an intensity that matches their head coach. Tobiason added that Syracuse is eager to play another team after months of intra-squad practices.
"Us playing everyday and bringing that intensity kind of holds the standard, of just bringing it everyday, being competitive, and going after it. It doesn't matter if you're my friend off the court we're going at it."
The Orange will get that chance on Tuesday night when they face UConn in an exhibition game at Mohegan Sun. Fans can watch a stream of that game on Cuse.com.
Here are the full press conferences from McNamara, Doty and Tobiason.
