Tajon Buchanan walked through a back entrance into Manley Field House past his teammates and a framed picture of himself battling for a header. He settled into bleacher-style seating and gazed down at the turf. He noticed thumping workout music, players from three different SU teams practicing and cracked a grin.

It was a peek into the present and future Buchanan’s past had earned him. Buchanan reflected about his path to SU — moving away from his mother in Canada, not playing a competitive match for a year and paying to attend an SU training camp to get noticed — and how its led to this Sunday.

Sixteenth-seeded Syracuse’s (7-6-4, 1-4-3 Atlantic Coast) NCAA tournament second round matchup against Akron (11-6-2, 1-2-1 Mid-American) is the type of game Buchanan dreamt of as a scrawny young player in Toronto. Before he was SU’s lone All-ACC First Team selection and the Orange’s first 20-plus point getter in three years, he was a premier-talent with no Power 5 offers due to lack of exposure. SU will likely rely on Buchanan, a sophomore forward it never recruited, to make a run to Santa Barbara, California in mid-December for the College Cup. But initially, Syracuse became Buchanan’s summit mostly because he was told he’d never reach that high.

“(Buchanan) is one of those incredible human beings,” Chrys Chrysanthou, Buchanan’s former club coach said. “You could’ve dropped him off in the middle of the desert with no food, no water and no clothes and he would show up somewhere asking, ‘Hey, do you want to drop me off in the desert again?’”

Buchanan first visited SU in November 2014 as a member of the Mississauga Falcons, a Canadian club team. Chrysanthou, the Falcons’ head coach, took a detour while driving back to Toronto from a tournament in New Jersey. It was during Thanksgiving break and the campus was mostly empty.

The small group of boys, including Buchanan’s best friend and Chrysanthou’s son, Anthony, strolled around campus. They walked past the fraternity houses on Comstock Ave., marveled at the old school buildings and found a way inside Flanagan Gymnasium where they played basketball for an hour. Anthony recalled Buchanan talked about Syracuse constantly when they returned home.

A few months later, the Falcons went on an official tour of college campuses including North Carolina, North Carolina State and Syracuse. During SU’s tour, Orange assistant coach Matt Verni showed the program’s facilities. The tour strengthened Buchanan’s connection to the school, but others around him dashed his hopes. He was told it was out of reach.

“Stop thinking about schools like Syracuse,” Chrysanthou remembered coaches telling the team.

Max Freund | Asst. Photo Editor

Coaches prompted the players to look at smaller American schools, where they’d be more likely to receive a scholarship. Buchanan resisted. Destination in mind, he just needed a way to get there. His road appeared later during the Falcons’ season.

In the beginning of 2015, Chrysanthou’s job moved his family to Colorado. A few days after Chrysanthou told a teary-eyed team about the move, Buchanan reached out to the Chrysanthous. He wanted to move with them.

Buchanan wanted to further his education and explore soccer opportunities, he said. Buchanan’s mom couldn’t move with him because she looked after Buchanan’s siblings. The Chrysanthous offered a vehicle to achieve his goal. Anthony and Buchanan were accepted into Real Colorado, a United States soccer developmental academy team.

But early in the summer of 2016, while on the back porch of the Chrysanthou home in Broomfield, Colorado, Buchanan heard news that jeopardized his immediate future. FIFA and the U.S. Soccer Federation declared Buchanan ineligible because his biological parents weren’t living with him. Chrysanthou remembered Buchanan was speechless.

They couldn’t fight FIFA because doing so would require hiring an international sports lawyer and trying the case in Switzerland, where FIFA is based. Buchanan relented, and Real Colorado allowed him to train with the club.

“I wasn’t playing in any games,” Buchanan said. “I wasn’t going to any showcases. I was just training. … I was going to have to wait till my senior year to really get that exposure and then who knows? It might’ve been too late.”

Max Freund | Asst. Photo Editor

The only school showing interest in Buchanan, Denver, was a byproduct of his locale. Syracuse hadn’t even heard of Buchanan at the time, head coach Ian McIntyre said, despite watching him tally an assist in IMG’s 2014 showcase championship game.

Desperate to get noticed, Buchanan spent the first days of 2016 in Syracuse’s Winter ID camp, a $250 pay-to-enter showcase event where athletes “showcase their individual and collective ability,” according to SU’s camp website. Buchanan’s coach at Real Colorado called McIntyre prior and alerted him of Buchanan’s skill level.

Buchanan, Chrysanthou and Anthony piled into a two-bedroom room in the Crown Plaza before the first session. Buchanan wasn’t nervous. He knew it was the opportunity he’d lost after the move to Colorado and FIFA’s decision.

On the training ground, drills were modeled after a typical Orange practice. Buchanan darted around the pitch during the 11-on-11 session. He shot efficiently. He dominated one-on-one challenges using his trademark speed. McIntyre identified the athleticism and on-ball ability that would eventually flumox ACC defenders.

“I may not be the greatest coach, but I can also realize (Buchanan) was pretty good when he turned up,” McIntyre said.

No SU coach approached Buchanan during the camp about a scholarship. Three weeks later, he received an email from McIntyre offering an official visit. As the tour concluded in McIntyre’s office, Buchanan committed without consulting Chrysanthou, who was outside answering a phone call.

Buchanan was set to play out his last two years of high school knowing a blue-and-orange checkered jersey awaited him. But a month later, his plans were again derailed. Buchanan was academically ineligible. A full school year in Colorado involves six credits spread out through two semesters. Buchanan had five months to accumulate seven.

Dedicating himself to his new goal, Buchanan stopped attending most of the Real Colorado training sessions. He spent an extra three-to-five hours a night doing extra work, Chrysanthou said. Each credit corresponded with an final text and in the last week of July – the deadline — Buchanan passed his last course.

Buchanan’s hopes were actualized and Syracuse had a top-striker to replace the likes of Chris Nanco and Sergio Camargo. On Feb. 7, 2017, Real Colorado’s college commits posed in their new school colors for a group photo on signing day. In the back corner, Buchanan’s left shoulder was covered by an SU scarf. He reached his destination.

“I had an unusual process,” Buchanan said. “You don’t really hear about people not playing and ending up at a big ACC school. … We’re here now. We’re ready to move forward.”

Published on November 16, 2018 at 5:53 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez