BOSTON – Dion Waiters lacks memory of the last time Syracuse reached the Elite Eight. In 2003, he did not follow intently as Carmelo Anthony captivated the Orange faithful and led SU to six straight wins and its lone national championship.

Back then, he was 11 years old, and playing was much more appealing than watching.

‘Honestly, I didn’t even know Syracuse in 2003,’ Waiters said. ‘I was just a kid going to every playground and shooting a basketball.’

Nine years later, Waiters knows Syracuse well. Nine years later, Syracuse is on the doorstep of its first Final Four since Anthony’s team took the title. Top-seeded Syracuse looked dominant at times, defenseless at others in its 64-63 Sweet 16 victory over No. 4 Wisconsin in the TD Garden on Thursday. After falling behind early, Waiters came off the bench and sparked a 24-8 run that helped the Orange into a halftime lead.

In the final seconds, with Syracuse clinging to a one-point lead, Waiters was there again, smothering All-Big Ten guard Jordan Taylor and forcing him to take a deep 3-pointer that fell well short.

On Syracuse’s run through the NCAA tournament – and in its two games in the Big East tournament – Waiters has been the catalyst, both practically and emotionally. The 3-pointers, the drives, the free throws – 12-of-12 in the NCAA Tournament – Waiters can do it all. And he can play defense.

If there is a player on the Orange who can summon the ‘I’ll-lead-the-way’ nature of the Anthony title run, it is Waiters.

Syracuse will go as far as he carries them.

‘Dion is our best offensive player, our offensive threat on the team, and we know that,’ Scoop Jardine said. ‘And when a guy like that is on, you give him the ball.’

Waiters wasn’t Syracuse’s leading scorer on Thursday, but his nine first-half points and 13 total were essential to the Orange’s win. He did it in the same city where Anthony and Syracuse began its run in 2003, when they defeated Manhattan and Oklahoma State in Boston.

The big shots, the bright lights, those are the moments Waiters says he wants. He knows how to play for a cheering crowd and energizes an arena and team like no other.

With Syracuse trailing 17-15 in the first half Thursday, Waiters rebounded a Taylor miss and pushed the ball up the floor. He drilled a 3 from the right wing to put SU in front, and let out the emotion as he retreated to play defense.

Waiters pumped his fist. He turned to his right, to the crowd, and shouted as he swung his arms.

‘We see it every practice,’ Brandon Triche said. ‘A phenomenal player, offensively and defensively. He’s tipping balls, plus he makes people go into turnovers on defense. Offensively, pretty much nobody can guard him.’

Waiters is averaging 17.8 points per game on 53.6 percent shooting from the field in five postseason games. It’s not quite Anthony numbers – he averaged 19.6 points per game from the Big East tournament through the Sweet 16 in 2003 – but it is the best this Syracuse team has to offer.

We got a display of the best Waiters has to offer in that Big East semifinals loss. He put Syracuse on his back in a game that the Orange’s two seniors, Jardine and Kris Joseph, were essentially nonfactors.

He was unbelievably hot – 28 points on 7-of-10 3s. Waiters said after that game that it does not matter if he is having a terrible night shooting. He still wants the ball in his hands.

Confidence oozes from his pores. And from his on-court skylarking to the orange socks, to the consistent retweeting of his fans – try it, he’ll retweet you – he is a fan favorite.

‘That’s the best sixth man out there,’ Waiters said of the Syracuse crowd. ‘They just get me going.’

Whether or not Waiters decides to enter the NBA Draft and go pro after this season will be irrelevant on Saturday. Until Syracuse loses, it’s a decision still in the future.

Anthony moved on to larger things after winning his title, still beloved and romanticized by those in Syracuse.

If this year’s Syracuse team is the second national champion in program history, Waiters will be one of the reasons why. And if these are his final weeks in an Orange jersey, he has the ability and the opportunity to captivate in these big moments as well.

He’s already started.

‘I heard the stories (from 2003) but I didn’t really hear them all,’ Waiters said. ‘… So it’s nice. We’re trying to do the same thing.’

Mark Cooper is the sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear occasionally. He can be reached at mcooperj@syr.edu or on Twitter at @mark_cooperjr.

Published on March 22, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Mark: mcooperj@syr.edu | @mark_cooperjr