William Kyle III is undersized. He punishes opposing teams doing the little things.
William Kyle III hounded Drexel on Saturday, totaling three blocks and 10 rebounds to go along with eight points, helping Syracuse to a 30-point win. Courtesy of Scott Schild | Syracuse.com
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PHILADELPHIA — William Kyle III doesn’t remember exactly when it happened, but as a high schooler, he learned his wingspan was over 7 feet. That’s the moment he realized he had long arms.
What he said he failed to realize in the moment, however, is how crazy it is to have a “plus wingspan” — a wingspan longer than his height. For Kyle, it’s an influential part of his game.
At 6-foot-9, it helps him stick with guards on the perimeter. It helps him fight for rebounds, block shots and disrupt passing lanes. Most importantly for Syracuse, it helps him guard taller, more traditional centers down low. For good measure, his 44-inch vertical jump — which would be one of the best in NBA Combine history — helps, too.
Kyle admits he may be “undersized.” But with a niche for playing defense and blocking shots while knowing his role is to do the little things, Kyle’s impact is bigger than his height may reflect.
In Syracuse’s (3-0, Atlantic Coast) 80-50 win over Drexel (1-2, Colonial Athletic), it was ever-so apparent. The UCLA transfer notched eight points, 10 rebounds (seven offensive), three steals and three blocks versus the Dragons, keeping the Orange undefeated after he averaged 12 points and nine rebounds across their first two games.
“That’s my role,” Kyle said postgame about doing the little things. “I feel like that’s what I do elite, and then that’s what I need to do on a nightly basis.”
A season after averaging 0.6 blocks at UCLA, Kyle has 10 blocks across the first three games of the year. For comparison, former SU center Eddie Lampkin Jr. notched 16 blocks last season.
As seen by the block total, Kyle is a vastly different player from Lampkin. Standing 6-foot-11 and 265 pounds, Lampkin looks like a prototypical, traditional center.
At 6-foot-9 and 230 pounds, Kyle looks the part of a wing that Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone would’ve loved. Instead, he’s SU head coach Adrian Autry’s man in the middle, and it’s a match that was made in heaven.
Heading into transfer portal season, Syracuse data analyst Eugene Tulyagijja — who has since joined the New York Knicks’ coaching staff — told The Daily Orange in October that one of the program’s three points of emphasis was to find an athletic center.
Three days after the portal officially opened, Kyle committed to the Orange. He told The D.O. in March that it was a pretty quick process because he fell in love with Syracuse. Kyle added that he really trusted SU’s vision and what the coaches were doing.
Near the top of that vision was playing faster. Having an athletic center in Kyle, who proved he’s an elite rim-runner and lob threat against Binghamton and Delaware State, enables them to do that. But even when he’s not one of SU’s leading scorers, which he wasn’t versus Drexel, Kyle feels he’s a perfect complementary piece.
“The team that we have right now, I feel like it’s perfect for my play style, and I feel like it complements a lot of other play styles,” Kyle said.
As Kiyan Anthony (18), Donnie Freeman (14) and Naithan George (10) led Syracuse in scoring, Kyle explained that he was focused on making hustle plays and fighting for offensive rebounds. His seven offensive boards did just that. On the other end of the floor, Autry said postgame that Kyle is “off the charts” defensively.
After Maliq Brown — a similar, undersized big man — transferred to Duke following the 2023-24 season, it’s a presence the Orange greatly lacked last year. Per KenPom, their 106.1 adjusted defensive rating ranked 152nd after placing 85th in Autry’s first season at the helm. With a new-look defense built around Kyle, Syracuse’s defensive rating is the 45th-best through three games.
Drexel head coach Zach Spiker reflected postgame that Kyle and Freeman’s athleticism played a major role in his team’s 3-point woes. The Dragons entered Saturday with the 61st-best 3-point percentage but shot 6-of-23 from beyond the arc versus SU. When Drexel went inside, it had to contend with Kyle’s verticality, which he showcased with his three blocks.
“He’s only 6-foot-8, 6-foot-9, but he has a 7-foot-3 wingspan, 44-inch vert,” Freeman said of Kyle. “So that makes up for his lack of height, I guess you could say, but he uses it well, and he’s getting better.”
Autry said Kyle’s motor, IQ and disruptive ability make him special. It’s everything the Orange lacked last year as they fell to their worst campaign since the 1968-69 season.
With Autry’s job potentially hinging on whether Syracuse snaps its four-year NCAA Tournament drought, he needed to nail his center acquisition over the offseason. While Kyle doesn’t look the part of most centers, he’s been everything the Orange could’ve dreamed of.
