Mike Hopkins, the jokester he is, decided to make the newcomer feel at home.

As Xzavier Gaines worked through a drill with the Syracuse men’s basketball team yesterday, Hopkins, SU’s eighth-year assistant coach, greeted Gaines with an impression of SU head football coach Paul Pasqualoni.

Gaines, SU’s third-string quarterback, laughed at the familiar gravelly tones. Gaines ended his football season last Saturday and joined the men’s basketball team earlier this week, returning to his favorite sport.

“I really wanted to come out and see what I could do,” said Gaines, who was a four-year starter in basketball at Dallas Carter High and Houston’s Westfield High.

Gaines, who said he’ll play shooting guard and small forward, could see some time in the Orangemen’s upcoming games, including tonight against Cornell at 7 in the Carrier Dome.

It’s the first of eight games the Orangemen play over Winter Break. Before opening its Big East schedule at Seton Hall on Jan. 8, SU plays UNC-Greensboro, Binghamton, Georgia Tech, Albany and Canisius.

While the games against lesser-conference opponents may let Gaines see the court, they’ll also give SU a chance to tweak its approach.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Boeheim said. “This month is going to be used for us to become a better basketball team. We’ve got to do better in a few areas.”

Namely, defense. The Orangemen allowed 47 first-half points to Colgate on Tuesday.

“We can work on that,” forward Carmelo Anthony said. “As a team, we know our strength right now is pushing the ball up the court.”

Cornell, which doesn’t have a player taller than 6 feet, 8 inches, will force SU’s big men, Craig Forth and Jeremy McNeil, to run the floor, too.

Forth has had difficulty sprinting and jumping lately because he’s nursing a sore right achilles. The sophomore has just eight rebounds in three games.

“He’s just got to get used to (the injury),” Boeheim said.

The Orangemen will have to continue adjusting to playing without freshman point guard Billy Edelin, who is serving a 12-game, NCAA-imposed suspension that will sidline him through Jan. 18.

Edelin missed the Colgate game and two practices this week but returned to practice yesterday. Syracuse players and coaches said Edelin missed time to work on an extra-credit assignment for a class. With Edelin out, freshman Gerry McNamara has taken over point-guard duties.

Boeheim said he brought in the 6-foot-4 Gaines to challenge 6-foot-6 guard Josh Pace and 6-foot-6 forward Kueth Duany in practices.

Gaines said Pasqualoni told him last week he could play with the basketball team, something Gaines has brought up with the coach before. Gaines said Ohio State and Georgia Tech recruited him exclusively to play basketball.

“But I didn’t want to give up football,” said Gaines, who didn’t throw a pass for the Orangemen this year and finished with -3 yards rushing.

When asked how long Gaines would remain with the team, Boeheim said, “As long as he wants to be out here with us, he’ll be out here.”

Gaines donned a No. 4 warmup jersey at practice yesterday. As of last night, his name wasn’t added to the roster on SU’s Web site.

“He’s a very good athlete,” Boeheim said, “and, from what I saw (at practice Wednesday), a very good shooter.”

Published on December 5, 2002 at 12:00 pm