As we countdown to tipoff for the Syracuse basketball season beginning on Nov. 3, The Juice Online will be doing a player-by-player preview. Today, we look at Syracuse guard Bryce Zephir.

Bryce Zephir became the 11th player on the Orange roster in mid-April.  Syracuse marks the fifth stop of the collegiate journeyman’s roster after spending a year at Chipola Junior College in Florida, two seasons (one redshirt) at North Texas, one campaign at Salt Lake Community College, and last season at Montana State.

The season at Salt Lake Community College might be the most important of Zephir’s long-traveled career, as he averaged over ten points a game for a team that finished 30-4.  That success helped him get back into Division I, landing at Montana State, where he earned a starting role halfway through the season.

Zephir averaged just over five points and two assists and rebounds in 19.6 minutes per game on the campaign, reaching double figures in scoring six times.  With the promotion to the starting lineup, there was a modest increase in Zephir’s playing time (from 15.8 to 22.7 minutes per game), but little difference in his production, particularly in per-minute rates.  With that modest degree of success, it is difficult to see Zephir making a significant impact for SU.

With his age, size (6’4”, 200 pounds), strength, and experience, Zephir likely slots ahead of freshman wing Aaron Womack.  Other than that, he is competing with J.J. Starling, Nate Kingz, Kiyan Anthony, Tyler Betsey, Luke Fennell, and maybe Sadiq White for minutes at the two and three.  It just does not appear to be in the cards for him to carve out a significant role.

At Montana State last season, Zephir did not show the offensive skills to contribute at a high major level.  He had a pretty solid assist rate and shot fairly well at the rim, particularly for his size, but the marksmanship did not really carry out to the rest of the floor.  Zephir was a slightly better than average shooter on long 2’s and made one-third of a modest number of 3-point attempts.

More concerning is that in an admittedly small sample size against better competition, his offense cratered.  Zephir’s poor offensive rating over the season of 92.4 shrank to 69.8 against top-100 foes and 45.1 against top-50 opponents.  His shooting percentages were a significant part of the decrease while his turnover rate jumped. 

As part of a deep position group, Zephir’s true value to Syracuse likely lies in him being a strong practice player.  His ability to show up every day at practice and make his teammates work hard is likely where his greatest impact will come from.  It is not flashy, but a valued job of self-sacrifice for the improvement of the team as a whole.

For more discussion on Syracuse athletics, visit our free Syracuse Orange discussion forum.