Syracuse wide receiver Mike Williams had never played in a Division I college basketball game before Saturday night. And normally he wouldn’t have needed to, even in a blowout like SU had going against East Tennessee State.

But Saturday night was anything but normal in the Carrier Dome. And Williams, a record-setting wideout for the Orange this fall, took advantage of his playing time with seven points in less than three minutes to start his hoops career.

‘Oh no. Never. I never thought that,’ Williams said, when asked about his scoring output. ‘I never thought I’d get in today. But it happened…’

That’s life as a guard at Syracuse.

Williams officially joined the SU basketball team Saturday night, when he dressed for the first time against East Tennessee State. Syracuse won in blowout fashion, 125-75. But for Syracuse, the addition of Williams came after a subtraction, when head coach Jim Boeheim said after the game that he believes senior guard Josh Wright has played his last game.

And now with guard Eric Devendorf possibly sidelined with what could be a serious knee injury, Syracuse is extremely thin at both its guard positions.

After Andy Rautins severed his ACL during the summer, the depth already looked shaky. But if Devendorf, who will be re-evaluated Sunday, is to miss an extended period of time, the only two scholarship guards Boeheim has left are freshmen Jonny Flynn and Scoop Jardine.

‘You can’t afford to lose guys like Eric,’ Boeheim said. ‘He’s a tremendous player. There’s nothing you can do. You try to make it up as best as you can.’

Devendorf hurt his left knee after Paul Harris made a lay-up with 19:06 left in the first half. He landed awkwardly on it and immediately fell into the Syracuse bench, grabbing and screaming in pain.

‘He’ll be tested (Sunday) and we’ll see hopefully, what happens,’ Boeheim said. ‘Hope for the best, that’s all we can do.’

When freshman Donte Greene was asked about Devendorf’s injury, he wouldn’t comment.

‘It’s going to be hard if we lose someone like that,’ Paul Harris said.

Flynn has started every game this season and is averaging 14.5 points and 6.4 assists per game. Only recently has Jardine played more, and Saturday he set career-highs in points (eight) and minutes (20).

Harris could be asked to move back to the guard position, if need be, Boeheim said. But right now, everything’s up in the air until Syracuse knows what Devendorf’s fate is.

Like the rest of the team, all Harris can do is hope.

‘Our prayers are with Eric,’ Harris said. ‘Hopefully it’s not bad, hopefully it’s a sprain or something.’

As for Williams, the seven-point outburst by the wide receiver was probably not a sign of things to come.

‘He’s a very good wide receiver,’ Boeheim said, with a smile, when asked about Williams’ play on the court Saturday night.

Williams made all three shots he took, but also committed three turnovers in his six minutes of play. He wore No. 41, with his football No. 1 currently taken by Rautins.

The 6-foot-2, 204-pound sophomore said he’s been toying with the idea of joining the basketball team for a few months. Williams was a standout in both sports at Riverside High in Buffalo. He said the decision to walk onto the basketball team wasn’t easy.

‘(My Syracuse football coaches) told me they wanted a good season, people were getting into my ear saying I have a shot at the NFL, all that was going through my head at once,’ Williams said. ‘I talked to my mom and she told me, ‘Do what I want to.’ I want to play basketball, I’ve been doing both sports all my life. So Jonny Flynn asked me to play, and I played.’

As a wide receiver, Williams emerged as one of the best threats in the Big East during an otherwise dismal 2-10 season for the Orange. Williams tied a school record with 60 receptions in 2007 and caught touchdown passes in nine straight games to end the season, the longest active streak in the nation.

Williams, a Buffalo News 2006 All-Western New York boys basketball team selection, told The Daily Orange in November that if he could get his grades where they needed to be, he’d walk on. When Williams was considering not making the jump, he said Boeheim asked Williams told him he’d like to see him play.

Williams is the first football player to walk onto the basketball team since J.J. Bedle did it during the 2005-06 season. Bedle played in one game, against Towson in Scranton, Pa., and had one rebound.

Harris, who played against Williams in Buffalo, loved every second of Williams’ collegiate basketball debut.

‘Mike Williams came in…that was crazy, man,’ Harris laughed. Then he yelled out to Williams, who was yards away. ‘Mike, come here! Good game baby.’

Published on December 15, 2007 at 12:00 pm