NATURAL 2: Joe Girard looks to return as SU’s top scorer following move to shooting guard

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rleen Girard’s mornings used to always start the same way. She would walk into her son’s room around 7 a.m. He’d sit up in his crib, stand and yell “ball, ball.” Arleen would carry Joe Girard III downstairs where a Little Tikes basketball hoop stood. The household’s split-level design allowed Girard to stand on the top two steps leading to the living room. Half asleep, Arleen would sit underneath the basket and rebound for Girard for about an hour before work.

Girard loved to shoot over the weekends, too. Over the next few years, the Little Tikes hoop moved outside, where Girard spent the majority of his day. 

“When he was able to walk, he was always dribbling a basketball,” Arleen said.

At 4 years old, he started playing organized basketball at the YMCA in Glens Falls, New York. Donning a red USA jersey, he’d match his jersey with red shorts, red high-top Jordan’s and a red arm sleeve, imitating his favorite NBA players. 

Girard came to Syracuse as a point guard. For three years, he drew attention as a 3-point scorer and playmaker from the point. But with the addition of Judah Mintz, the 33rd overall prospect in the 2022 class, Girard is moving to the No. 2 spot in the lineup.

“It’s just another way for me to compete,” Girard said. “It’s probably the more fun spot in the Syracuse offense just because of the way we run our offense through the wings.”

Growing up as a Miami Heat fan, Girard loved watching Dwyane Wade. Sometimes, he’d make Arleen count down from eight to zero, running around the living room and imitating a Wade game-winning shot.

Arleen said Girard would try his imitations out at the YMCA. But what he liked the most about Wade was his ability from beyond the 3-point arc. Girard would wobble around the court as an infant with a basketball as big as he was, while his father, Joseph Jr., coached the Glens Falls girl’s basketball team.

“He would just walk around and I think just watching what everybody was doing, trying to shoot,” Arleen said. “He was in awe of it. Loved it.”

Girard eventually took part in a free-throw shooting competition for nine to 11 year-olds as part of the nationwide Hoop Shoot Contest. Shoot 25 foul shots, win, and you can advance to the regional competition.

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Girard first entered when he was 10, though he didn’t make it far. Two years later, Girard went a perfect 25-for-25 in the first round of the tournament. Then, he advanced to the finals in Houston, where he won by making all but two shots.

“It followed him all the way through high school, still does. He’s a great foul shooter,” Girard’s third cousin and former high school teammate Connor Girard said. “He was just used to shooting 100 free throws in front of a crowd as a child.”

Both Girard’s uncle Rob Girard, the head coach of boy’s varsity basketball at Glens Falls High School, and Joseph Jr. preached the acronym B.E.E.F. to their players: balance, elbow, eyes, follow through. Girard has worked since high school on moving his elbow in to improve his 3-point shooting. In middle school, Connor saw Girard’s shot improve after he moved his elbow in and shot from his legs more.

SU head coach Jim Boeheim approached Girard with the idea of moving him to shooting guard at the end of the 2021-22 season. The addition of Mintz and losses of Cole Swider and Buddy Boeheim made it obvious to Girard. In previous years, he’d work in as the two-guard when starters came out.

Boeheim said he believed Girard was one of the better point guards in the conference. He did what the good point guards do: moved the ball to Syracuse’s high-level shooters.

“I think it’s better for him and our team overall that he’s at the two,” Boeheim said.

Girard said he’s looking forward to honing his off-ball skills to get open and score. Girard’s cousin and former teammate, Cam Girard, said not having the ball every time will allow Girard to “breathe a little more.”

There will be fewer moments of Girard getting full-court pressed, having to haphazardly bring the ball up, which Girard’s first cousin Quinn Girard said led to short-sightedness and turnovers. Boeheim projected Girard would average 20 points per game for the Orange. 

“He’s a scorer. That’s what he is, that’s what he was,” Boeheim said.

Gerry McNamara said Girard is probably looking forward to the relief of using down screens. The shooting guard gives Syracuse the ability to stretch the court, and because Girard stretches his shot out to 28 feet, he’s a threat to shoot from well beyond the arc. Syracuse’s offense can create straight-line drives off pump fakes, McNamara said, which creates 4-on-3s and 5-on-4s.

“Being a relentless mover, his range is so deep, he can extend the court so far,” McNamara said. “He’s been like an animal off the basketball this summer, it’s non-stop movement.”

Quinn thinks Girard is a natural two. He can move to either side with ease, take two dribbles and pull up with enough space from the foul line or go for the hoop. In high school, either he or his cousin, Trent Girard, brought the ball up. Rob said Girard sometimes moved to the wing, creating so much space off of movement that he could help Glens Falls storm back in a late win.

They’d usually draw up a triple screen that would end with Girard wide open. Even when teams would play a high 3-2 zone defense, Glens Falls ran a double screen and “let (Girard) create from there,” Cam said.

Over the summer, Girard got his first taste at shooting guard, his first brushes with having plays set up for him to score. He worked with John Bol Ajak and Jesse Edwards on down screens throughout the season, making himself a potent offensive threat.

“If he can get up and down the floor, especially with not having to hang on to the ball, he can really leak out a little bit and get himself set up for some 3s and some easy buckets that will get him going,” Cam said.