In everything, Syracuse freshman basketball player Terrence Roberts strives to be bigger.

His body? He wants it huge. Jeremy McNeil huge. That’s why he spent his summer in the weight room, ballooning from 205 pounds to 227. That’s why he downs six meals a day, including a few cheese steaks from Goldstein Auditorium.

His reputation? He wants to be a campus giant. Already, students have recognized him and pointed him out in class. By the end of the season, everyone within 25 miles better know his name.

His role on Syracuse’s basketball team? Big won’t cut it. He wants to start. He wants to play 30 minutes a game and prove his moves match up to his reputation.

‘When you’ve already got a big name and you come into this caliber program, a lot of expectations are put on you,’ Roberts said. ‘Some people get scared by it. Some people live up to it. I want to do more. I want to just get bigger and bigger.’

It’s an ambitious approach for the 6-foot-9 Roberts, a power forward who arrives at Syracuse so highly touted he’ll have to perform well just to live up to his hype. Then again, bold goals are nothing new for Roberts, a consensus top-30 recruit from St. Anthony’s High School in New Jersey.

‘Terrence thinks he can do anything,’ St. Anthony’s coach Bob Hurley said. ‘And he’s pretty much right. He’ll turn out to be a fantastic college player. He’s a good step-out shooter. He’s great on the boards.’

But what makes Roberts unique is his foot speed. At St. Anthony’s, Roberts routinely ran sprints against teammate Elijah Ingram, now a point guard for St. Johns. Even though he stood 10 inches taller than Ingram, Roberts usually won those races.

Roberts is so quick Hurley expects him to eventually move to small forward, which could happen at Syracuse. The departures of Carmelo Anthony and Kueth Duany left Syracuse with a void at small forward – one that Roberts could help fill.

‘He definitely has the opportunity to get a lot of minutes in the forward spot,’ said SU assistant coach Mike Hopkins. ‘He’s game-ready, but you have to wait for practice to start to really know. Obviously, if we based playing time on reputation, he’d see a lot of minutes.’

Roberts would be in good shape if the Orangemen based playing time on confidence, too. On his right biceps, Roberts has a tattoo that reads: ‘GOD GIVEN TALENT.’ And, in an almost-endearing way, he’s just as brash with his words.

Roberts on the Syracuse freshman class: ‘Our motto this summer has been that we’re the Fab Four, like the Fab Five before at Michigan. We’re the best freshman class in the country. We’re crazy talented.’

Roberts on the departure of Carmelo Anthony: ‘People say that’s really going to hurt us, but we’ve got four Carmelo Anthony’s coming in this year again. The freshmen, we can shoot, pass, rebound and score. We can do everything.’

Roberts on Roberts: ‘There’s a lot of anxiety for me right now, with everyone thinking I’m going to do so well. But I’ve got the skill and the talent. Plus, I’m not one to disappoint his fans. I’ve just got to come up big.’

Price chopper

Think the Syracuse athletic department could care less about you?

Then get this: Thanks to a handful of e-mail complaints from students, SU athletic department officials will meet Thursday to address high basketball season-ticket prices for students.

Director of Athletics Jake Crouthamel said the meeting will result in a cheaper per-game package for this season. It will affect both students who already purchased season tickets and those who plan to buy in the near future.

‘We’re considering different ways to remedy the high prices,’ Crouthamel said. ‘We’ll decide on a method Thursday and then put that process into place. Students who bought tickets will hear from us through e-mail. On a per-game basis, the prices will go down.’

For students, season tickets went on sale this summer for $100. The package includes all seven games played in the Carrier Dome while school is in session. Last year, student season tickets cost $89 and included 11 games.

The reason for the eye-dropping increase in price-per-game?

Quite simply, bad luck. Syracuse sets student season-ticket prices months before the basketball schedule is finalized, making it a game of guesswork.

‘Usually, we anticipate about 10 to 12 home games that students would be on campus for,’ Crouthamel said. ‘This year, we really got nailed once the schedule came back. If we knew there would only be seven games for students, the price for that package wouldn’t be what it is now.

‘As soon as we got the schedule, we realized the student price was not right. Now we are going about the process of fixing that.’

Back home

Former Syracuse guard Allen Griffin found a good excuse to continue hanging around the Orangemen.

Earlier this week, Griffin – who’s often worked out with the Syracuse team since his 2000 graduation – was hired as an administrative assistant, replacing Clay McKnight. In his new role, Griffin will handle tape exchange with Syracuse opponents, travel concerns and other duties.

‘I’m so excited that it’s hard to even talk about,’ Griffin said from his new office in Manley Field House. ‘This job is a great launching pad. I get to learn from everybody. I want to be a head coach someday, and this is a great career stepping stone.’

In fact, it’s Griffin’s first definitive step up in a while. After average 11 points and seven assists during his senior year, Griffin floated from the NBDL to overseas to the NBDL again.

‘It was a real hard path,’ Griffin said. ‘But I wouldn’t change anything from it. The playing career was fun while it lasted. Now I’m on to something new.’

Said SU assistant Hopkins: ‘Allen is unbelievable. He’s what SU basketball is all about. When he played here, he just left such a great taste in everybody’s mouth. He’s going to be fantastic.’

This and that

If you’re still hankering for SU championship paraphernalia, commemorative rings are now available online through Jostens for $179 or $199. … Now that Carmelo Anthony has departed Syracuse again, the closest you’ll get to the superstar is his Web site. His advice? ‘Sign up for the fan club and the monthly newsletter,’ Anthony said. ‘I promise it’ll be good.’

Published on September 16, 2003 at 12:00 pm