Syracuse Orange Basketball 2013-14: Maui Invitational SU vs Baylor

Syracuse guard Tyler Ennis is congratulated by assistant coach Gerry McNamara after the Orange beat Baylor 74-67 in the finals of the Maui Invitational.

(Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com)

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Syracuse University freshman Tyler Ennis has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference's Rookie of the Week after his outstanding performances in the Maui Invitational last week.

Ennis, a 6-foot-2 guard, averaged 17.0 points in Syracuse's three games in Maui. He scored a career-high 28 points in the Orange's semifinal win over California. He had 11 points and nine assists in the championship game against Baylor.

In the three games, Ennis handed out 18 assists and he committed just two turnovers. He made 20 out of 22 free throw attempts during the three Maui games.

Pittsburgh's Lamar Patterson received the ACC's Player of the Week honor. The 6-foot-5 Patterson averaged 21.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists in Pitt's wins over Texas Tech, Stanford and Duquesne.

Mike Waters, the Syracuse University basketball beat writer for syracuse.com and The Post-Standard, is on the media panel that votes on the ACC's Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week awards. Each week, Waters will provide his choices and the reasons behind them.



Just when I thought the ACC might just have to retire its Rookie of the Week award in honor of Duke's Jabari Parker, Syracuse's Tyler Ennis put forth three consecutive outstanding games in the Maui Invitational to wrest the honor away from Parker.

That's not to say Parker had a bad week. Oh no. Parker averaged 23 points and 5.5 rebounds in two games last week. He had 27 points in a win over Alabama and then had 19 in the Blue Devils' loss to Arizona.

I still submitted my vote for Ennis, though. He had a big offensive game against Cal, but I really went with him after his 9-assist, 0-turnover game against Baylor in the Maui Invitational's championship game.

Syracuse forwards Jerami Grant and C.J. Fair celebrate after the Orange's 74-67 win over Baylor in the finals of the Maui Invitational. Fair was named tournament MVP.

In the player of the year voting, North Carolina State's T.J. Warren had a 30-point game against Coastal Carolina, Virginia Tech's Adam Smith had a 28-point game against Radford and Boston College's Ryan Anderson scored 28 against Sacred Heart. But I trimmed my list down to Pitt's Lamar Patterson and Syracuse's C.J. Fair.

Patterson's numbers were very good and very comparable to Fair's. Patterson had 21.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in three games, while Fair had 21.3 points and 6.3 rebounds in three games.

I went with Fair because I thought he put up his numbers against tougher competition. Pitt played Texas Tech, Stanford and Duquesne, while Syracuse faced Minnesota, California and then-No. 18 Baylor.