Here’s what we know.

Once, a kid named Billy Edelin — a hot-shooting, quick-passing, sharp-cutting high school basketball player — got lost on his way from a court in Mouth of Wilson, Va., to the college hardwood.

Tomorrow, when his NCAA-imposed, 12-game suspension expires, he’ll find his way to the finish line of a year-and-a-half-long journey. SU men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim has assured everyone that Edelin’s pot at the end of the rainbow holds at least a few minutes of playing time at point guard.

But what the heck a player who has not competed in organized basketball — save the recreational-league games that spawned Edelin’s latest suspension — in a year and a half can do remains to be seen.

Edelin’s a question mark wrapped in an enigma topped with secret sauce. He’s the ball-handler and extra reserve Syracuse badly needs, or he’s too rusty to be of any immediate use. He’s the final character in a developing storybook plot or just another mention on the acknowledgements page.

Which way will the pendulum swing? Impossible to tell.

“I’m going to give it my 100 percent effort and do all I can,” Edelin told a swarm of media yesterday. “That’s about all I can promise.”

We can speculate. At best, Edelin would give the Orangemen a sorely needed second option bringing up the ball. So far, star freshman Gerry McNamara has handled those duties almost exclusively, while going against top Big East point guards Andre Barrett and Troy Bell.

McNamara can’t do that throughout the whole conference season.

McNamara’s not the only Orangeman who needs rest. Syracuse, which has only nine scholarship players, has played seven for the last month or so (freshman Matt Gorman has disappeared from the rotation). The result has been McNamara, Carmelo Anthony and Hakim Warrick averaging more than 30 minutes.

SU fans might also enjoy salivating over the potential chemistry between McNamara and Edelin. If Boeheim put the two on the floor at the same time, McNamara could shift to shooting guard, his natural position.

“He definitely has the passing ability to find me in open spots,” McNamara said. “That’s what I’m really looking forward to, maybe getting four or five more open looks a game.”

Maybe. But with Edelin the Enigma, who’s to say for sure?

Consider two of Edelin’s classmates … check that … former classmates — Josh Pace and Warrick. Think about how much those two have developed since last year.

Warrick came in a wiry freshman with limited defensive ability. Now, he’s a legitimate power forward and one of the Big East’s most expressive slam-dunk artists.

Pace, another skilled though slight freshman last year, has become an offensive ignition switch as the Orangemen’s sixth man.

While Warrick and Pace developed, Edelin sat.

None of this is to suggest Edelin will never be the star guard many predicted he would become when he left Virginia’s Oak Hill Academy. He probably will be, someday.

“(Sitting out) may have slowed his process down a little, but in the long run, a three- or four-year scheme of things, it may not matter,” said Steve Smith, Edelin’s coach at Oak Hill. “He’ll be an impact player. It’ll just be a year and a half later than everyone expected.”

Later is for later. What can Edelin do now?

Now there’s what we don’t know.

Pete Iorizzo is the sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear regularly. E-mail him at pniorizz@syr.edu.

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Published on January 15, 2003 at 12:00 pm