Syracuse men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim spoke with ESPN's Andy Katz for a podcast released Tuesday that was full of interesting Syracuse news.
The most important news to Orange fans, at least in terms of the immediate future, was Boeheim telling Katz that Syracuse won't know Dajuan Coleman's status for next year until September.
"We're really hopeful he'll be back," Boeheim said. "He's working out now. It's a slow rehab process. We'll know more in August or September. Right now we're very hopeful."
Coleman has dropped at least 24 pounds since undergoing surgery thanks to a juice diet, assistant coach Mike Hopkins said in April. At that point, Coleman had only just begun putting weight on the leg.
Coleman played in 13 games last season and was averaging 4.3 points and 4.2 rebounds in just over 13 minutes per game before injuring his left knee. If healthy, he and Rakeem Christmas would form a veteran front court for a team in significant need of experience.
"He was on a great track last year prior to the injury," Boeheim told Katz. "We're very hopeful he'll be able to play this year and be a factor this year. We won't know that, really probably, until September at the earliest."
Along with providing a Coleman update, Boeheim also chimed in on a number of other subjects. Below are some of the highlights.
On who will produce without C.J. Fair, Tyler Ennis, Jerami Grant and Baye Moussa Keita: "It's a great question. Rakeem Christmas is going to step up. I think he's going to be the most improved player in the league this year. He's ready to step into that role. Mike Gbinije and Tyler Roberson are two other guys that didn't do a lot last year but are very capable of stepping in and having big years. We're not going to replace those guys without a tremendous team effort. The freshman will have to contribute but those three and a couple others, Trevor Cooney obviously, are going to have to step it up. Every year you lose guys. The year before we lost Michael Carter-Williams and Brandon Triche and James Southerland, and everybody pulled together and bounced back. That's the nature of college basketball now. You're going to lose guys. We have guys ready that have been in the program that have worked hard and I believe are ready for that expanded role."
On what he's learned from USA Basketball: "You learn some plays, some sets. Mike D'Antoni, working with him was great. Mike Kryzyzewski is an unbelievable psychological coach. Some of the things he does have really helped us here at Syracuse. Talking to the players, Jason Kidd, Carmelo (Anthony), Lebron (James), getting some of their insights, what they see and feel. They know the game. College kids are learning the game. They can't really tell you a lot about what's going on out there. They're looking for you to tell them. Getting some insight from the NBA players has really been helpful for me dealing with my players and my team."
On the difference between the ACC and the Big East: "I don't see a bit of difference. We already have rivalries created in the first year. I'm sure there will be many more in the years to come. It's a great league. We're in a great league and I couldn't be happier. We have the best league we could possibly be in the way things in college basketball were heading and the way things have transpired the last few years. We're in the best place we can be."