NEW YORK – After exiting college basketball with a loss in the consolation round of a second-tier tournament, Preston Shumpert needed some cheering up.

So, when the NIT presented him with a neatly wrapped present, it was a welcome surprise. Underneath the ribbon and white packaging, Shumpert learned he had been named to the All-Tournament team, earning him a trophy.

‘Just another piece of hardware,’ Shumpert cracked, finally smiling. ‘No, it’s nice to be honored. I just wish it was a different trophy.’

Shumpert carried Syracuse throughout the NIT, averaging 25 points. In the finals, Shumpert again was the Orangemen’s only consistent scorer, totaling 21 points on 9-for-18 shooting.

‘I think Preston is kind of underrated,’ head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘He’s one of the better players that we’ve ever had. From his freshman year on, he’s been a factor in every game he’s played.

‘He’s had one of the great careers at Syracuse. Three straight years he took us to the NCAA Tournament, and with a little help, he would have taken us back this year.’

Shumpert finished the season averaging 20.7 points, joining Billy Owens, Lawrence Moten and John Wallace as the only Syracuse players in Boeheim’s 26 years to average more than 20 points in a season.

Shumpert also became the first Syracuse player to lead the Orangemen in scoring two straight years since Moten did so from 1993-95, and he climbed to sixth on the SU career-scoring list.

Still, Shumpert was subdued and reflective while evaluating his career.

‘It’s hard to look back right now,’ he said. ‘I just tried to lead by example every single day. I’d slip a little bit every once in a while. I made my mistakes and I realize that, but then I would just go back and try to lead again.

‘Being a leader on a team, it’s like watching a pet or a little brother or sister. You watch something grow up and come together and you try to be a positive influence. If I did that, it’s more important than every point I scored.’

A killer for coach

Shumpert and his teammates weren’t the only emotional victims of this tumultuous season. Many players noted that the year wore on Boeheim as well.

After the game Boeheim berated his troops, point guard James Thues said.

‘Yeah, the season took a toll on Boeheim, too,’ Thues said. ‘He said a lot of things in the locker room. He said it was a disappointing season, and nobody should be happy about it.’

Boeheim’s season began on a poor note. When Billy Edelin was indefinitely suspended at the beginning of the year, Boeheim called it the ‘most disappointing’ time of his 26-year career. That frustration carried through the season, Thues said.

‘There’s always things that happen in a season, but this year we’ve had more than our share,’ Boeheim said.

Perhaps as a result, Boeheim was even more vocal than usual Thursday night. He chewed out center Jeremy McNeil for poor rebounding and, early in the second half, screamed at Kueth Duany for not boxing out.

After the game, Boeheim spent 40 minutes total talking first to DeShaun Williams and then to Duany, two juniors who failed to produce at the end of the season. Boeheim talked to each player about his offensive collapse and urged each to become a leader next year.

Still, players insist that even during the tough year, Boeheim’s yelling was nothing but beneficial.

‘Boeheim is a lot more vocal than I thought he’d be,’ freshman Hakim Warrick said. ‘At the beginning of the season, I was like ‘What am I doing wrong to make him so upset?’ But as the year goes on, you learn he is just trying to make you a better player.’

‘People who don’t understand him have a problem with him,’ Shumpert said. ‘He got on me, but I needed it. This year was tough for him, but I was happy to play for a coach like him.’

Billy the adult

In his final game at Syracuse, fifth-year center Billy Celuck played one minute. This, a season after he started 13 games.

Celuck entered with just over 13 minutes left in the game and tallied a foul and a blocked shot before being replaced. Celuck averaged just 1.9 points this season, less than nine players on the team.

‘If I went out there and played well, I would have stayed out there longer,’ Celuck said. ‘But leaving the team is going to take some time.’

This and that

Thues inked his name in the Syracuse record book. The sophomore recorded two steals to up his season total to 101, which ties the single-season record set by Jason Hart in 1998-99. … Syracuse’s 54 points were its lowest output all season. … Syracuse didn’t score before the first official timeout. Duany finally put the Orangemen on the board 4:27 into the game. … Thursday’s game was sparsely attended. Though no official attendance was given, about 2,000 people showed up by halftime. … Duany cut his lip midway through the first half and left the court for the locker room. He returned five minutes later with a white bandage over his lip, making him look like he had a milk mustache.

Published on April 1, 2002 at 12:00 pm