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Syracuse men’s basketball forward Benny Williams has been dismissed from the team, the program announced on social media Tuesday.

“Benny Williams has been dismissed from the Syracuse men’s basketball program. Everyone involved with the program wishes Benny the best,” the post on X read.

“I have no comment,” said Williams’ father, Ben Williams, in a text exchange with The Daily Orange.

A spokesperson for the program was unable to confirm whether or not Williams is still a student at Syracuse University. Williams’ father also said he had “no comment” about Williams’ status as a student. A spokesperson for the University said the statement from the team on social media is the “full comment” at this time and similarly couldn’t confirm Williams’ student status.

On Nov. 1, prior to SU’s regular season opener, Williams was suspended for a violation of team rules and missed the exhibition game against the College of St. Rose as well as wins over New Hampshire and Canisius. In multiple instances, head coach Adrian Autry had declined to specify the reasons. The junior forward then returned to all team activities on Nov. 10 and made his season debut versus Colgate on Nov. 14. He scored zero points in 10 minutes of action versus the Raiders.

The dismissal comes after the Orange’s 29-point loss to Wake Forest, the program’s second-worst loss in its time as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Williams, who received a technical foul for aggressively chucking the ball away from the referees, played 24 minutes and scored seven points in the 99-70 loss. After the technical, Williams was subbed out and was seen colliding into Autry’s shoulder. As the game’s final seconds ticked away, when Williams was on the court, Williams was seen walking straight to the locker room. He did not shake hands with members of Wake Forest and ignored assistant coach Allen Griffin’s attempt to grab him.

“I want to apologize to our fans, our University for that performance,” Autry said postgame. “Unacceptable, (it) won’t be tolerated.”

In 18 appearances for Syracuse this season, Williams averaged 5.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game in just over 17 minutes a game. His season-high was 15 points versus Pittsburgh in late December.

Williams, a former five-star recruit from Maryland, averaged 1.9 points in freshman year back in the 2021-22 season before improving to 7.2 points per game his sophomore year under then-head coach Jim Boeheim. In high school, he played at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School before playing at IMG Academy in Florida his senior year.

The decision to dismiss Williams, a 6-foot-9 forward, means Syracuse loses more depth in the front court. It has already lost Naheem McLeod to a season-ending foot injury and has been relying on Maliq Brown in the center role while Peter Carey and Mounir Hima have occasionally entered games.

Published on February 6, 2024 at 11:47 am

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini