Syracuse, N.Y. – One of the best things about Mike’s Mailbox is that I learn some amazing things as a result of a question from a reader.
Whether it’s a long-held record or a statistic I never considered before, I can always count on the readers to point out or ask about incredible stuff.
That’s true of this week’s Mailbox. I got a question from a reader based on the growing number of older players in college basketball.
It led me happily down a rabbit hole into Syracuse basketball history until I found the answer.
If you have questions for the Mailbox, on any subject, send them to mwaters@syracuse.com.
Q: I saw that the former Syracuse Orange player Robert Braswell was still playing college basketball at Charlotte last season. It was his seventh year in college.
That got me thinking: Who was the oldest player to play for the Orange?
Paul B.
Mike: Robert Braswell, who came to Syracuse as part of the 2018 recruiting class along with Buddy Boeheim and Jalen Carey, finally finished his college career at Charlotte this past season. He was 25 years old.
We’re seeing a lot of older players in college basketball due to the Covid year, medical redshirts and the NCAA granting more and more waivers to athletes.
So who is the oldest player in Syracuse basketball history? Eddie Lampkin? Jimmy Boeheim? Andy Rautins? None came close.
I found a lot of older players during the World War I and World War II eras. Players either had their college careers interrupted or delayed by military service.
One example is Syracuse legend Billy Gabor. He was a freshman at SU during the 1942-43 season before joining the U.S. Army Air Corps. He then returned to Syracuse where he played from 1945 to 1948.
Born in May of 1922, Gabor was 25 years old in his final season at Syracuse.
Earl Ackley, who graduated a year after Gabor in 1949, was also 25 years old as a senior. Ackley received a Purple Heart for assisting wounded soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge.
I found a few players who were 26 years old while playing for Syracuse, but the oldest person to ever play basketball for Syracuse is Andy Mogish.
The 1945-46 Syracuse basketball team with stars Billy Gabor and Roy Peters (front row; last two on the right) and Andy Mogish (back row; far right). The 1946 team went 23-4 and went to the NIT.Post-Standard archives
Mogish was a teammate of Gabor’s at Binghamton Central High School. He played at SU during the 1942-43 season before serving two years as a corporal with the U.S. Army Air Corps.
He returned to Syracuse midway through the 1945-46 season. Then, at the age of 27, he finished his college career in the 1946-47 season.
Mogish immediately went into coaching, becoming the coach of SU’s freshman team in 1947. He would serve as SU’s golf coach and baseball coach. He was also an assistant varsity basketball coach for many years, which meant that he coached Jim Boeheim in both basketball and golf.
Mogish died in 2015 at the age of 95.
Q: Are there any unsigned Top 100 HS recruits Syracuse might be interested in offering a scholarship to for the 2025-2026 season or are they going to rely solely on the transfer portal to fill their roster?
Gerry C.
Mike: There are only four unsigned players in ESPN’s Top 100 rankings for the ’25 class.
I don’t envision the Syracuse coaches adding any more players the Orange’s four-player recruiting class.
It’s difficult to win with younger players these days. It’s also difficult to retain players if they don’t get a chance to play. It’s not impossible, but it can be difficult. You have to find a player who understands the coach’s development plans for him.
It also helps if the player can see a pathway to more playing time as a sophomore. I think that’s why Elijah Moore and Petar Majstorovic left Syracuse after their freshman year. Their roles weren’t going to change much as sophomores. They weren’t going to start or see any more playing time.
Syracuse now has 12 players signed to its 2025-26 roster. If Syracuse wants to add another player, I would expect the coaches look at the transfer portal, maybe a JUCO or possibly overseas.
Q: With all the transfers in college basketball, are the kids still getting an education? Normally, a basketball player would earn their degree in four or five years. Now with the transfer portal, I don’t see how these kids are getting an education.
Bill W
Mike: As anyone who ever transferred from one college to another can tell you, it can sometimes be a challenge to stay on course to graduation. Sometimes a school doesn’t accept credits earned at a previous school or doesn’t apply those credits to one’s major. They become elective credits.
And, yes, when players transfer multiple times and end up at three schools in four years or four schools in five years, it does give the appearance that education is taking a backseat to basketball. If education is even in the equation at all.
However, players who take their education seriously and want to earn a degree can do so.
Unlike the average student who has to work in the summer instead of taking classes, college basketball players can attend summer school. It’s possible to take two classes in each of the two summer sessions and wind up with 12 credits in a summer. That’s basically a semester’s worth of credits.
Many college courses are now available online. It’s much more common now since Covid forced every college to develop its online presence.
So a player can transfer and still finish up a class. (This has also helped players avoid missing class when traveling to games.)
If a player is in college for five years, even with a couple of transfers, there’s no excuse for not earning a degree.
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