Hartford, Conn. – For the second straight game, Billy Edelin sat on the Syracuse men’s basketball team’s bench, suspended for violating unspecified team rules.

Edelin, who practiced with Syracuse on Sunday, traveled with SU and dressed for the game. While the Orangemen warmed up an hour before gametime, Edelin, a sophomore guard, sat courtside, talking to graduate assistant Allen Griffin.

William Edelin, Billy’s father, said Edelin’s spirits remained high after speaking with him yesterday afternoon.

‘After what he’s been through, he can handle this,’ William said. ‘Are you kidding me? Nothing like this is easy, but he’ll be back soon enough. He just has to follow what comes down from the coach.’

SU head coach Jim Boeheim remained vague on the Edelin situation.

When asked what the loss of Edelin meant to SU’s offense – which shot 31.3 percent in SU’s 84-56 loss to Connecticut last night – Boeheim shrugged his shoulders and snarled.

‘I don’t know,’ Boeheim said. ‘Who knows? I have no idea. Of course you would like for him to be there, but he’s not there. There’s nothing you could do about it.’

Edelin might have made some difference, though, not much. The 6-foot-4 sophomore hardly shoots from 3-point land, and SU struggled penetrating the lane against shot-blockers Emeka Okafor and Charlie Villanueva, who combined for six blocks.

During the game, Edelin seemed in good spirits, laughing with assistant coach Mike Hopkins. Still, the sophomore never took off his warm-ups, and he kept to the outside of SU huddles during timeouts.

Boeheim gave no indication when Edelin, who started each of SU’s first 16 games, would return.

Freshman Demetris Nichols replaced Edelin in the starting lineup, as he did Saturday against Virginia Tech. On defense, junior Josh Pace took Edelin’s familiar position at the top of SU’s 2-3 zone.

Nichols shot 3-for-7 and scored eight points in 20 minutes in place of Edelin. Pace shot 1-for-6 and scored a season-low three points.

Edelin, who didn’t practice with the Orangemen all last week, now suffers through his third suspension in as many years at SU. He missed all of his first year at SU after being accused of sexual assault. Last year, he missed SU’s first 12 games for participating in a non-sanctioned recreational league.

Edelin is averaging 14.4 points and 4.4 rebounds this season.

Sports editor Adam Kilgore

contributed to this story.

Published on February 2, 2004 at 12:00 pm