Coleman dresses, misses 2nd straight game with left leg contusion
Syracuse (14-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) center DaJuan Coleman did not play in the Orange’s 49-44 win against Miami (8-6, 0-2) on Saturday.
Coleman, who has now missed two straight games with a left leg contusion, was on the bench in his uniform. But even though he dressed, SU head coach Jim Boeheim said he was not excepting to play him.
“He was feeling better, but I really didn’t want to,” Boeheim said. “We’re going to give him another day or two. See how he feels. He’s better, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Jerami Grant started again at the wing and Rakeem Christmas slid into the middle of the 2-3 zone. Coleman did participate in pregame warm-ups, appearing to favor his right leg slightly, and wore a sleeve on his left knee.
On Friday, SU Athletics spokesman Pete Moore said the injury is around the knee area — the same knee that Coleman underwent surgery for on Jan. 29, 2013 that caused him to miss eight games. However, Moore said that the team does not believe the two injuries are related. The sophomore center said he dropped 10-to-15 pounds before the start of the season in hopes of gaining speed and limiting the chance of re-injury.
Coleman’s contusion was first announced by Boeheim after the sophomore center played just six minutes and missed the entire second half in SU’s 78-62 win over then-No. 8 Villanova last Saturday. He then sat on the sideline in a grey sweatsuit for the Orange’s 70-48 victory against Eastern Michigan on Tuesday.
Published on January 4, 2014 at 8:23 pm
Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1