Fresh off of his senior year at Syracuse, Binghamton welcomes graduate student guard Symir Torrence, who is ready to step up for the Bearcats and show what he’s made of. Torrence’s collegiate basketball career began at Marquette, where he played his freshman and sophomore years — starting just three games. He then transferred to Syracuse, his hometown school, to play his junior and senior years under hall-of-fame Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim.

“I think this is every opportunity for me to just show who I really am and … [show] what people have been missing,” Torrence said.

Last season, Torrence averaged 2.4 points per game and 11.2 minutes on the court for the Orange. His season highlights included scoring double figures for the Orange in wins against Lehigh and Oakland, dishing out five assists in just 12 minutes at Virginia and playing 25 minutes in a victory over Colgate. At Syracuse, Torrence served as a senior leader on a team with relatively young and inexperienced talent — as nearly half of the Orange’s roster last year consisted of freshmen. This quality is something he plans on bringing over to Binghamton as he prepares for his last season of college basketball.

“[I want to show] the young guys — the freshmen, the sophomores — that you really got to cherish each and every day because it goes by fast,” Torrence said. “Just treating every day like it’s your last and not taking anything for granted. Thinking by those words every day means a lot and I carry them on the court with me.”

Torrence also expressed his gratitude for having the opportunity to play for each respective school in his past four collegiate seasons and is using his experiences from both Marquette and Syracuse to motivate him to improve his game and leadership presence on the team.

“[I’m] just taking little bits and pieces from every year and adding it to my game,” Torrence said. “Whether it’s a scoring impact or a leadership impact, I think I’ve done a good job of carrying all the opportunities I’ve had at Marquette and [Syracuse] and following up with that at Binghamton.”

Though being a leader for the Bearcats is certainly important to him, Torrence’s overall motivation and purpose for his game come from him wanting to be an inspiration for his family and his community. He has a large family and acknowledged that not everyone has made it as far as he has, obtaining a college degree, while also working on a graduate degree at Binghamton as well. Torrence added that after his basketball career comes to a close, he wants not only to start coaching but to start an organization in the city of Syracuse that uplifts kids in his community.

“[I want to give] them my story [and give] them opportunities to be able to go outside of Syracuse and establish what they mean to themselves, to their family and to this world,” Torrence said.

For his final season, Torrence chose to play at Binghamton not only because of the opportunities it provided him in terms of playing time and establishing himself as a point guard but also because he felt that it was the best fit for him. He has his sights set on being the best he can be, especially if it means achieving America East (AE) player of the year or AE defensive player of the year honors. However, his main objective for the Bearcats this year is not only to win but to exceed expectations for the team, particularly during the AE Tournament.

“[W]hen we get to the conference tournament, we want to win that so we can make it to the big tournament,” Torrence said. “Once we get to the big tournament, we kind of want to surprise some people, so day by day, that’s the main goal.”