Mike Jones, a freshman forward on the Syracuse men’s basketball team, left the Orange on Wednesday because of homesickness and a lack of playing time.

The Syracuse athletics department alerted the media of Jones’ departure by e-mail on Wednesday afternoon after Jones was not present at Wednesday’s team practice at the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim addressed Jones’ situation in his postgame press conference following SU’s 74-66 loss to Pittsburgh Thursday night.

‘He knew coming he we had a three-man and he just didn’t want to wait until next year,’ Boeheim said.

Jones averaged 1.9 points and 0.7 rebounds in 11 games. He plans to transfer to another school.

‘He hasn’t played a minute for us this year that counts,’ Boeheim said. ‘He hasn’t helped us one play this year.’

Attempts to reach Jones and his mother, Linnett Wright, at the family’s home in Hopkins, S.C., were unsuccessful.

Jones, who saw limited playing time and was hampered with a hip injury during non-conference play, also missed numerous practices over the first three months of his collegiate career.

The 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward was the last member of the team to report back to Syracuse after the players’ holiday break. He did not return to practice until Thursday, two days after the rest of the team.

Jones played three minutes vs. St. Bonaventure Saturday night, grabbing one rebound.

Situated behind Demetris Nichols, the Big East’s leading scorer, on the depth chart, Jones averaged just 6.2 minutes per contest. He did not play in three games-one being Dec. 9 against Colgate when he did not dress due to a hip injury suffered in the first half of the Oklahoma State game on Dec. 5.

While Jones saw limited time, bench players like Andy Rautins and Matt Gorman earned starts in place of other injured or sick SU regulars.

‘He’s a three-man and we got a guy at that position that’s pretty good,’ Boeheim said. ‘If he was a four-man, he could help us. He’s not.’

Without Jones, the Orange is left with only eight healthy scholarship players. Sophomore forward Arinze Onuaku is likely to redshirt the 2006-07 season following knee surgery in October.

The most recent casualty to injury is senior forward Matt Gorman. Gorman sprained his ankle in practice on Wednesday and is out indefinitely.

A potential destination for Jones is his home state’s school, South Carolina. The Gamecocks were aggressive in the recruitment of Jones during its later stages. Jones did not officially earn qualifying ACT scores until late in the recruiting period and USC tried to convince the consensus four-star recruit to stay close to home.

In fact, Jones’ recruiting process came down to Syracuse and South Carolina. Last April, Jones cited his relationships with Boeheim and SU assistant coach Rob Murphy, as well as the SU players he met when visiting the campus as the decisive factors in picking the Orange.

‘Being able to play for coach Boeheim is a dream come true,’ Jones said last April. ‘I’ve been watching Syracuse ever since I was young.’

But his mother, Wright, and high school coach Chip Atkins confirmed in April that many of Jones’ friends and family were upset to see him originally leave South Carolina for Syracuse. Atkins was unavailable for comment Thursday.

Jones is the second Syracuse scholarship player to transfer in the past calendar year. Former guard Louie McCroskey is sitting out the 2006-07 season after transferring to Marist in May.

Published on January 13, 2007 at 12:00 pm