They stayed over the summer to form cohesiveness. They absorbed the pressure from their head coach about being the ‘go-to players.’ And lately, they’ve taken the criticism after not living up to the team’s lofty expectations.

The standouts of Quentin Hillsman’s first two recruiting classes – Erica Morrow, Vionca Murray, Nicole Michael and Tasha Harris – live without much credit for their immolations.

‘We sacrificed,’ Morrow said. ‘I’ve been home maybe a total of 30 days since I’ve gotten here as a freshman. We stay the summer, we only go home for Christmas and two weeks after school. And that’s just to get better.’

But as the team says goodbye to another graduating class, it means back to work for those four, back to the grind that’s produced both history and heartache. With just one regular season game against Providence remaining tonight at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome, now is likely the time to take the lessons learned and apply them next season.

‘It’s a process,’ Morrow said. ‘People only see it in terms of the win and loss column. Improvement may not be as fast or as soon as the fans want it to be.’

For Hillsman, these players are cornerstone of his vision. Without them, the team may not have broken through with a 22-9 record last year, reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002.

‘It’s crazy how important it is,’ Hillsman said. ‘We have to get a lot of mileage out of them in the next few seasons, and we’re going to need them to continue to grow, continue to be productive.’

Growth, for these players, probably won’t be difficult. For a team that saw an 11-2 start crumble to a 15-12 record while enduring a 2-8 final stretch of the season, the lessons learned have been stacked in front of them ready to be studied at the season’s end.

Most recently, the team suffered a one-point loss to West Virginia Saturday, its fifth last-minute loss of the season.

‘Those kids have been tough,’ Hillsman said. ‘In a year where our youth kind of smacked us around a little bit, they tried and they really persevered over a lot of things – over people who say they’ve underachieved or ask, ‘What happened?”

Hillsman is looking forward to what he can draw from these classes in the upcoming season. He can draw from the fact that his team reflects his ever-optimistic attitude and looks forward to a Big East tournament that pits the Orange in a difficult position.

As it stands right now, the Orange will be the 13 seed in the tournament and will face a 12-seeded Saint John’s team, which Syracuse beat by only one this season. A win in the first round would match them up with a Notre Dame team that beat them by 11 on Feb. 24.

‘We just want to finish strong,’ Morrow said. ‘We can’t really focus on the past, we just need to get better.

But for Morrow and the rest of the players, they don’t have a choice. Morrow talked about teammates deciding on Syracuse instead of a more established or well-known basketball program, buying into Hillsman’s scheme.

For the recent future, the program will be what they make it, and they won’t stop working until they reach their goal.

‘It’s important to set the tone,’ Morrow said. ‘I took a chance coming here and everyone took a chance. We want to get to the point where it’s no longer taking chances and this is the school to go to.’

ctorr@syr.edu

Published on March 1, 2009 at 12:00 pm