The Mark Konecny chapter — albeit a brief one — of the this season’s Syracuse men’s basketball story officially ended Jan. 16 when the freshman forward completed his transfer to Central Florida.

Konecny could have returned to Syracuse this semester, assistant coach Mike Hopkins said.

Konecny’s withdrawal in November marked the second loss for the promising freshman class. The university indefinitely suspended freshman guard Billy Edelin before the season for sexual assault.

Central Florida head coach Kirk Speraw has decided to shield Konecny from the media and said through the Central Florida sports information department that Konecny would have no comment.

‘He’s a nice young man,’ Speraw said. ‘He was excited to look at our campus. He’s excited to get a new start.’

Because of NCAA rules, Konecny must sit out for one year. He will, however, have four years of eligibility after he sits out. Speraw said he hopes Konecny will be on the court sometime next fall.

When it became known that Konecny would be leaving Syracuse, the Central Florida coaching staff contacted Hopkins, Speraw said. Konecny traveled to Central Florida for an official visit in December, he added. Speraw said he did not ‘get into a lot of details’ about Konecny’s time at Syracuse.

‘There were a couple of other schools that were interested in him,’ said Konecny’s father, Leonard, ‘but down there it seemed like the best possible place. If he gets the right amount of credits, he can start playing in December.’

Charlotte, Rhode Island and Drexel also showed interest in Konecny, Leonard Konecny said. Konecny also made an official visit to Charlotte, he added.

Leonard Konecny refused to clarify the confusion that has surrounded Konecny’s withdrawal since November.

After Konecny was absent from the bench in Syracuse’s Nov. 27 victory over Colgate, SU released a one-sentence statement: ‘Mark Konecny has withdrawn from school.’

Konecny denied that he had withdrawn for several days, while head coach Jim Boeheim said Konecny withdrew for academic reasons. Konecny was removed from the roster on the team’s official Web site Nov. 28 and refused to speak to the media after that.

Although Konecny played a total of just five minutes in two games for SU, he was a big part of Syracuse’s future plans. On Wednesday, Hopkins called Konecny ‘one of our better power forwards, if not the best at the beginning of the season.’

Hopkins, who recruited the power forward from Holy Cross (Conn.), added that Konecny could have helped the Orangemen rebounding this season, something that has cost them in back-to-back losses to Tennessee and Pittsburgh. He maintained that Konecny has the tools to be a fine player and wishes Konecny luck in the future.

‘In terms of the levels, I always think when guys transfer, they should go to a level a little bit lower and stand out,’ Hopkins said. ‘It’s a positive thing. I hope he scores a lot and has a standout career for them.’

Published on January 24, 2002 at 12:00 pm