During a five-on-five drill on Oct. 21, Tyler Roberson spun off the left block and leaned into a jump hook in the middle of the paint.

Right as he did, 7-foot-2 center Paschal Chukwu moved into position and jumped with two hands outstretched above his head. Roberson’s hook barely left his hand before Chukwu swatted it down. The shot never had a chance of reaching the rim.

“Tyler, Tyler,” Syracuse assistant coach Adrian Autry said to Roberson. “Jump stop, pump fake, then go up.”

Chukwu — originally from Nigeria and attended Fairfield College (Connecticut) Preparatory School — came the Orange after one year at Providence and will sit out the upcoming 2015–16 season due to NCAA transfer rules. He averaged 2.6 points and 2.4 rebounds per game as a freshman with the Friars, playing just 9.9 minutes a contest. SU head coach Jim Boeheim said at media day that Chukwu, with a 226-pound frame and unrefined offensive skills, will “benefit more from a redshirt year I think more than any player that we’ve ever had.”

And while a year of practice could set Chukwu’s career on a brighter path, it will also prepare Syracuse’s active big men for the rim protectors they’ll face this season.

“We’re going to see a lot of 7-foot guys in the league and it’s good to have a 7’2” guy there to go against every day and affect how the game is and how practice goes,” Boeheim said. “That’s important, I think that’s very important. I think he helps DaJuan (Coleman) and helps Chino (Obokoh) get better in practice because they’re going against him.”

Coleman, who hasn’t played in a game since Jan. 7, 2014, will start and is expected to play a bulk of the minutes at center for Syracuse. He goes against Chukwu in just about every four-on-four and five-on-five drill in practices, and it’s forcing him to give up more fakes and use his weight to clear space in the paint.

While Chukwu is 29 pounds lighter than Coleman, he’s 5 inches taller and uses his floor-scraping arms to obstruct Coleman’s sight of the rim. Boeheim said Chukwu has already helped Coleman knock the rust off, and helped Obokoh improve offensively, and the practice battles will continue into the season.

“It’s an excellent dynamic because now DC knows what he has to go through to take down a 7-footer because you know he’s a little undersized himself,” said Doyin Akintobi-Adeyeye, a walk-on forward who works with the centers in practice.

“But getting familiar with that, you can know that he’ll be ready for whoever he faces. I can’t imagine many teams have a guy who can do what Paschal does defensively.”

Even before Atlantic Coast Conference play, Syracuse will face Wisconsin, Georgetown and St. John’s, and be in a Battle 4 Atlantis field that includes Texas, Michigan, Connecticut and Gonzaga. All of those teams have the size and length to challenge the Orange’s thin frontcourt, as well as its slashing guards and forwards. And after graduating all-ACC center Rakeem Christmas and his 17.5 points per game, SU’s low-post production will likely be a byproduct of a refocused 3-point-heavy offense.

But Boeheim is confident that Chukwu, whose size is nearly impossible to mimic, is preparing Syracuse to compete in the paint.

“Paschal will be one of the premier shot blockers in college basketball probably,” the head coach said.

Meanwhile, he’ll protect the rim in practice — waiting his turn while helping others make the most of theirs.

Published on October 27, 2015 at 9:06 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse