Syracuse, N.Y. - With about 11 minutes left in the first half of Syracuse's basketball game against Eastern Washington Tuesday night in the Carrier Dome, Jim Boeheim wandered down his bench and paused in front of Jalen Carey.
"He just said, 'Jalen, are you ready?' And I said, 'Yeah.'"
That brief conversation officially launched the Syracuse career of Carey, the freshman point guard who came to the Orange with Jordan Brand Classic acclaim. Carey's debut Tuesday came in a 66-34 win against the overmatched Eagles on a day when nobody was certain whether he or any of SU's other point guards would play a single minute.