Syracuse center Jeremy McNeil makes his off-seasons productive. He changes his diet, stretches and runs wind sprints. He spends his days in the weight room so, when it comes time to start the season, he can squeeze 250-plus pounds of muscle into a new orange jersey and boast about the weight he put on.

But this season, McNeil’s more proud of the weight he took off.

Forget about pounds. McNeil spent much of the last four months contemplating his seesaw Syracuse career and continuing to cope with the death of his mother, Zhonnie, who died last October. He came back – all 256 pounds of him – feeling a bit, well, lighter.

‘I had a lot of time to think and that kind of calmed me down,’ said McNeil, a senior who led Syracuse with 100 blocks last year. ‘My head’s better. I guess I pretty much fixed it.’

That comes as good news to Syracuse fans. During McNeil’s career, it’s been his head – not his hulking frame – that’s caused problems.

Upset about playing time, McNeil had a spat with coaches and left the Syracuse team midseason in 2001. He flew home to Texas, mulled things over and asked back onto the team a week later.

For a year after his return, he remained aloof from teammates and chose to spend most nights alone in his apartment.

‘Those days are over,’ McNeil said. ‘This team we got now is special. It’s coming together even faster than last years. It feels real comfortable.’

As a result, McNeil is spending more time with teammates. He lives with SU guard Billy Edelin and eats most of his meals with fellow center Craig Forth. At the basketball team’s media day Friday, McNeil remained utterly selfless, deftly using questions to complement his teammates.

As a senior, does he want to be a captain? ‘Not at all. I wouldn’t even want it. Craig’s the guy for that. He’s great at it. He should keep it.’

Does he want more playing time? ‘Whatever happens is fine with me. We just want to be successful as a team. And there are four more freshmen – all really, really good – now.’

Said SU forward Hakim Warrick: ‘Jeremy’s all about the team. He’s more relaxed and laid-back. He’s happier.’

Not that he doesn’t still have tough moments. McNeil said that he still thinks about his mom every night, and it often keeps him up until 6 or 7 a.m.

He has basketball anxieties, too. He aspires to play in the NBA, and this is his last chance to impress NBA scouts.

‘I’ve always wanted to play at the next level,’ McNeil said. ‘I’m faster this year and I’ve got better hands. We’ll see what happens, but I believe in myself.’

Making the grade?

Syracuse players seemed concerned about academics even before freshman Louie McCroskey was suspended because of them earlier this week.

McCroskey, from St. Raymond High School in the Bronx, will sit out practice indefinitely because of an academic issue. Just a month ago, SU guard Josh Pace spoke to the freshmen in an attempt to prevent any academic problem.

‘It’s harder for all of us to focus on school this year,’ Pace said. ‘Having won it all last year, things just feel different around here. It’s hard to think about things other than basketball. You just have to work harder in school and worry about that more.’

In particular, a few Syracuse players seemed worried about Edelin, who took two summer classes in hopes of raising his grade point average. According to two players on the team, Edelin narrowly dodged failing both classes.

‘I don’t know where that stuff comes from,’ Edelin said. ‘I got an A in one class and a C in the other.

‘Actually, Boeheim was just joking with me because my grades this time were better than the ones from before. In terms of grades, I’m fine. I mean, I’m not going to say that I’m a great student or something, but I’m looking forward to playing the whole season.’

Edelin said he missed the Orangemen’s trip to the White House this summer to better focus on his summer class work.

‘I know I have to keep my grades up,’ Edelin said, ‘so that’s what I’ve been doing.’

Bitter Boeheim?

As is his custom, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim went on one good rant during men’s basketball media day – and it had little to do with this year’s Syracuse team.

What, you ask, does Boeheim think about the Big East / ACC issue?

‘That’s irrelevant right now,’ Boeheim said. ‘Bottom line, we’ll end up with a good conference someday. Hopefully by Nov. 4, we’ll know where we’re going and we’ll know who it is.

‘We’ll have a better basketball conference, I’m convinced. And that’s what I coach. I think for the institution we’ll have a better football conference. People forget a few years ago, Miami was coming off a 2-10 season. And Virginia Tech, when they came into our league, was coming off a 2-9 season.

‘Leagues can help make programs. Not the other way around sometimes. I think we have to be mindful of that and understand that that can happen again. At one time, Virginia Tech wasn’t Virginia Tech. At one time in basketball, Connecticut wasn’t Connecticut.

‘I’ve heard about the death of the Big East for a lot of years. And, I can’t remember because I’m not thinking about it, but who won the f—— national championship last year? I think somebody won it from the Big East. So let’s not give up the ship yet.’

Bad memories

Edelin has kept an especially close eye on the saga following sexual assault allegations against Kobe Bryant.

After all, he’s dealt with a similar situation. A university judicial board suspended Edelin for the entire 2001-02 season after two Syracuse freshmen women accused him of sexual assault. Charges were never filed.

‘I’ve been there, so I definitely feel for Kobe,’ Edelin said. ‘People turn on you real fast. They assume that the player did it, and that everybody just wants to jump in and protect the player, but that’s not really fair.

‘I mean, I know how easy it is for us to get with girls, so I can’t even imagine how easy it is for somebody like Kobe. You just never know what happened.’

As for the allegations against him – which Edelin has always denied – Edelin said: ‘The effects never go away totally. It’s behind me. I don’t think about it. I’m done with it. But I know that other people still have it in their minds, and that hurts.’

This and that

Five Syracuse players slipped into their jerseys for the first time Friday. Their numbers are: Terrence Roberts (No. 33), Demetris Nichols (No. 4), Louie McCroskey (No. 42), Darryl Watkins (No. 13) and Ross DiLiegro (No. 35). … Boeheim on how losing 30 pounds will help Craig Forth: ‘We’ll see. He looks better. But there are a lot of women that lose about 30 pounds – they don’t make Miss America, though.’ … Single-game tickets for this season go on sale this morning at 9 a.m.

Published on October 21, 2003 at 12:00 pm