Team Canada head coach Leo Rautins knows his son Andy’s affinity for the outrageous when it comes to his hairstyle.

But after experimenting with a few new looks during his time with the team this summer, Leo saw one that – as both a coach and father – made him step in and take charge.

‘I’d call it a biff – kind of a country club, side wave,’ Leo Rautins said. ‘He had this little wave going down the side of his hair. When I saw that haircut, I thought of a guy that wears a cardigan sweater around his neck, and it just didn’t fly with me.’

Though Andy, a senior shooting guard on Syracuse’s basketball team, may have digressed stylistically over the summer, Leo said his on-court game is as solid as he’s ever seen it. On the strength of a more physical floor game, Rautins was a key cog in Team Canada’s run to the semifinals of the FIBA Americas qualifying tournament, which earned the squad a spot in next year’s FIBA World Championships.

Coming off a 2008-09 season in which he averaged 10.5 points per game as the Orange’s most dangerous outside shooting threat, Rautins knew he needed to brush up on his all-around game and got the perfect opportunity in the trenches of the notoriously physical International League.

‘He’s gotten a lot stronger,’ Leo Rautins said. ‘The international game, if you’re a shooter and you’re coming off screens they beat the crap out of you, and you have to deal with that on a daily basis, including practice. So it added a lot of strength and confidence.’

Though Andy Rautins will never be a major interior force, his newfound strength and confidence was on full display during a summer friendly against the Italian national team. After watching one of his teammates get punched in the back of the head, Andy sprung from the 3-point line and put the offender in a headlock, while a full-on brawl ensued between both sides.

‘Andy was the first one in to grab the guy and put him in a headlock,’ Leo Rautins said. ‘I didn’t see it happen until the video later that Andy was the first one in.’

Aside from actual fighting, Leo Rautins said Andy’s more physical game has allowed him to put the ball on the floor more and drive toward the basket instead of relying solely on his 3-point shot. It’s a move that will help him petition for a spot in the starting lineup with eager applicants Brandon Triche and Scoop Jardine also looking for time.

As for the hairstyle, Rautins says Andy is back to his patented faux-hawk look with a ‘tapered back,’ but that he can’t be sure exactly how it will look come opening day.

‘It’s going to be one of the great surprises of the upcoming season,’ Rautins said. ‘But I don’t know.’

Highly touted recruit to visit SU

Tobias Harris, a 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward from Half Hollow Hills (N.Y.) High School, will make Syracuse one of the 11 teams on his personal barnstorming tour, which began Wednesday.

Harris, the No. 5 overall prospect on Rivals.com, began his tour in Kentucky on Sept. 9 and will make his way to Syracuse, Connecticut and Louisville on Saturday, while also making visits to Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, St. John’s, Tennessee, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Maryland all by Sept. 16.

‘His dad set it up that way,’ said Half Hollow Hills basketball coach Bill Mitaritonna. ‘He didn’t want to upset any of the schools that had been recruiting his son. He wanted to make sure everyone got a fair shake, since all the coaches have been great, and be able to speak with Tobias.’

Because Harris has to see so many schools in such a short period of time, visits with multiple schools will sometimes be scheduled in the same day, with the recruit flying between appointments during the day. SU, for example, will be able to meet with Harris at noon on Saturday before he heads to Connecticut at 3 p.m. and then Louisville at 6 p.m.

‘I don’t know how he’s going to do it,’ Mitaritonna said. ‘But Tobias is a great kid, he knows how to handle himself and he’s very mature, so I’m sure he’ll be fine.’

As far as leaning toward any school in particular, Mitaritonna said that Harris is going into this grueling schedule of visits completely open-minded and is not partial to any school yet.

‘This kid, man, he’s just going to listen to everyone and make his decision after that,’ Mitaritonna said. ‘That’s just the way it is.’

Committee meets to finalize Midnight Madness

A committee is currently meeting to finalize the date of Midnight Madness – a glorified practice session held at night to commemorate the official start of basketball season – which will be held in the Carrier Dome this year, instead of Manley Field House, according to an SU Athletics spokesman.

Though the spokesperson was not a member of the committee, he said the date of Oct. 16 has been suggested, but that it has not been made official.

ctorr@syr.edu

Published on September 9, 2009 at 12:00 pm