The dunk proved a few things about Arinze Onuaku on Sunday.

As he chugged ahead of the fast break following an Andy Rautins steal, the 6-foot-9 center looked faster, a little more limber than in years past. But most notably, as he skied up to deliver a one-hand jam just six minutes into the game, he alleviated the biggest worry surrounding him – the status of his faulty knees.

‘I think Arinze looks solid,’ head coach Jim Boeheim said after Onuaku’s 10-point, nine-rebound performance against Cal State-Los Angeles Sunday. ‘He just needs to get some more games.’

Before Sunday’s exhibition, Onuaku was one of the team’s biggest question marks. After undergoing surgery for chronic knee tendonitis following the 2008-2009 season, Onuaku spent nearly the entire summer off, away from basketball and working on rehabbing his sore joints.

Picking up a basketball for the first time just a month before the team’s first practice, Onuaku has started on the long road back to recovery. It’s a process that will not only hold his health in balance, but also the status of a team already desperately in need of offense and senior leadership.

‘Right now I’m feeling good,’ Onuaku said at the team’s media day. ‘I’m trying to get the basketball flow things, my rhythm and timing down. I’ve been working with the coaches and with the team the past couple weeks just trying to get back into basketball.’

It’s not an injury uncommon to players of Onuaku’s size and position, but the chronic pain made his in-game tasks all the more difficult. Under the basket, Onuaku relies on the strength generated from his knees to grab rebounds – last year he averaged 7.3 per game – and power his undersized frame against some of the biggest players in the Big East on his way toward the basket.

‘He hasn’t been pain-free for the last three years,’ Boeheim said. ‘I think he’s still got some soreness, but I think he’s better physically than he’s been in terms of pain.’

Ultimately, the decision was made to go under the knife. If the surgery went according to plan, the pain that hampered him the previous four seasons would be gone, allowing him to play faster and stronger than he had in a long time.

But having such a procedure done with limited turnaround time came with some drawbacks, too. Onuaku came into camp noticeably thinner than he was at the end of last season, which is enough to curb the inside presence he relies on.

Boeheim said Onuaku wasn’t close to game shape heading into the team’s first practice – significant time off his feet caused Onuaku to become winded during live drills and scrimmages.

‘We’ve taken it very easy with him,’ Boeheim said. ‘He has played some, but not a lot, over the last two weeks. His wind and stamina are going to be down.’

Though difficult, the rehab process is crucial for an Orange team desperate for offense. Following last season, the team lost its leading three scorers to the NBA Draft, leaving just Onuaku, Rautins and Jackson as remaining players on the roster that had considerable offensive experience.

Boeheim isn’t worried though, he said. During media day, he projected Onuaku’s recovery process to be slow, but that he hoped to see significant progress by the beginning of November.

But as Onuaku raced down the floor to lead the fast break in that first exhibition, it looked as if he was arriving ahead of schedule. Sprints like this, that used to bring on fatigue, looked effortless, and the full extension en route to the basket seemed as if the knees had already been healed.

‘Right now, I’m feeling good,’ Onuaku said. ‘I’m trying to get the basketball flow of things.’

Southerland emerging as hot topic

Before Sunday’s exhibition, most of the hype was surrounding Iowa State transfer Wesley Johnson.

With the departure of the team’s top three scorers, it was widely assumed that the versatile Johnson was the answer to creating scoring opportunities for the Orange.

But with a minute left in the first half, and Johnson having scored only four points, fan attention quickly swung to freshman forward James Southerland with two quick shots.

‘After I hit the first one, it set the tone, and I felt like I could keep shooting it,’ Southerland said following the game.

Southerland went on to score a game-high 19 points in his Orange debut, going an unprecedented 5-for-5 from beyond the 3-point line and putting in a pair of jumpers to pace the SU offense throughout the second half.

A native of Bayside, N.Y., Southerland specializes in the 3-point game, using his 6-foot-8 frame as a perch to shoot over some of the smaller perimeter defenders, which could end up being a good long-range complement to senior Andy Rautins.

‘He can really shoot the ball, and he’s going to help us this year,’ point guard Scoop Jardine said. ‘We have a lot of young guys that are willing to learn and willing to get down and dirty, and that’s going to help us out this year.’

Harris to announce in three weeks

Staying true to his methodical approach, heralded recruit Tobias Harris has set an expected date to announce which college he will attend next year.

On Nov. 19, Harris will choose between one of seven schools – including Syracuse – that have been courting him since the beginning of a lengthy recruiting process that started with 11 total schools, according to SNY.tv.

After visiting with each of the 11 coaches in his Dix Hills, N.Y., home, Harris – the No. 5 overall recruit on Rivals.com – made a round of cuts to limit the schools and start taking official visits. Currently, Louisville, Kentucky, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, Tennessee and Maryland are among the others recruiting Harris.

Once Harris made the cuts, he took his first official visit to Syracuse and has begun making the rounds – most recently turning up at Kentucky for the school’s version of Midnight Madness.

And though it may just be coincidence, the Orange will be in New York City playing in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic against California at Madison Square Garden the night of Harris’ planned announcement.

ctorr@syr.edu

Published on October 29, 2009 at 12:00 pm