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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;SPRINGFIELD, Mass. \u2014 One of the most serious penalties imposed on Syracuse by the NCAA was taking away three scholarships a year for four years. The sanction, one of several handed down after an&amp;nbsp;after an eight-year investigation into the school\u2019s athletic department, is a severe blow to the Orange\u2019\u200Bs ability to compete at the top of the acc. To make up for the scholarship reductions, Syracuse must maximize the roster spots available to it.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Which helps to explain why Tyus Battle is so important to the Orange\u2019s future. A 6'6\", 205-pound senior at St&amp;nbsp;Joseph High in Metuchen, N.J., Battle verbally committed to Syracuse last July after decommitting from&amp;nbsp;Michigan&amp;nbsp;the previous month and taking an official visit to Syracuse. Battle told SI.com at the Hoophall Classic that he reopened his recruitment because, \u201CI made my promise to my mom that I would explore all of my options.\u201D Of his decision to pick the Orange, Battle said, \u201CI love the coaching staff. I love the community there. It\u2019s a great college feel, and I think we should have a pretty good team next year. So, I just love Syracuse a lot.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Though Battle is listed as a small forward by Scout.com\u2014the No. 8 player at his position and the No. 24 player in the class of 2016\u2014he projects as a guard in college. Battle is a dynamic wing scorer with range out to the three-point line who can beat defenders off the dribble and guard multiple positions. He potentially could play multiple positions in Syracuse\u2019s backcourt; he has the creative intuition to man the point, the athleticism and craft to drive and finish at the rim and the shooting stroke to stretch defenses. Battle said Syracuse views him \u201Cmore as a combo guard\u2014play the point a little bit, play the two a little bit.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Battle also mentioned Syracuse\u2019s development of big point guards like former first-round draft pick and current&amp;nbsp;Milwaukee&amp;nbsp;Buck Michael Carter-Williams (6'6\") as well as current starter&amp;nbsp;Michael Gbinije&amp;nbsp;(6'7\"). \u201CI can\u2019t wait,\u201D said Battle, who scored 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out three assists in a loss to Paul VI Catholic (Va.) High on Saturday. Scout.com recruiting analyst Evan Daniels noted Battle\u2019s passing ability but said he thinks his \u201Ctrue position\u201D is on the wing. \u201DI think Tyus Battle\u2019s biggest strength is his ability to score,\u201D Daniels said. \u201CAnd I think his attributes and abilities lend more to him being off the ball than on the ball.\u201D&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gbinije and shooting guard&amp;nbsp;Trevor Cooney&amp;nbsp;are fifth-year seniors who are set to depart this off-season, and&amp;nbsp;Kaleb Joseph, a four-star point guard prospect in the class of 2014, is playing sparingly as a sophomore. That suggests Battle\u2014who\u2019s joined in the Orange\u2019s 2016 recruiting class by four-star power forward Matthew Moyer\u2014should be in line to earn major minutes right away in a perimeter rotation that will also feature freshmen&amp;nbsp;Malachi Richardson&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;Franklin Howard. In addition, the Orange will have Pascal Chukwu, a 7'2\" center who transferred from&amp;nbsp;Providence, eligible next season. They&amp;nbsp;are also still pursuing&amp;nbsp;four-star 2016 center Taurean Thompson.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fortunately for Syracuse, the NCAA rolled back its scholarship penalty from three per year to two per year over the next four years as the result of an appeal and recently ruled that the program can count the three scholarships it gave up this year toward the penalty. That will provide more roster flexibility for the Orange going forward, but it doesn\u2019t undercut the basic point that the Orange are less equipped to weather recruiting miscalculations than other programs. If one of Syracuse\u2019s class of 2016 prospects doesn\u2019t pan out, it will further thin a roster ranked last in the country in the \u201Cbench minutes\u201D (16%) statistic compiled on kenpom.com.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is an important year in recruiting for the Orange, and Battle\u2014who signed in the early period\u2014could provide exactly what they need: backcourt depth and versatility.\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2016/01/20/tyus-battle-syracuse-orange-recruitment-commit-jim-boeheim>