Syracuse center DaJuan Coleman will “probably not” play against Miami in the team’s Atlantic Coast Conference opener Saturday due to a left leg contusion, SU head coach Jim Boeheim said before practice Friday.

Coleman missed SU’s 70-48 win over Eastern Michigan on Tuesday as forward Jerami Grant made his first start of the season on the wing and Rakeem Christmas slid into the middle of the 2-3 zone.

“Right now we’re treating it,” Boeheim said after the Orange’s nonconference finale. “He’s going through a series of treatments that we hope will help him be able to play. It’s kind of day-by-day, not week-to-week, it’s really day-to-day. He had a treatment yesterday so he couldn’t play today.”

SU Athletics spokesman Pete Moore said the injury is around the knee area — the same knee that Coleman underwent surgery for on Jan. 29, 2013 and caused him to miss eight games. However, Moore said that the team does not believe the two injuries are related. The sophomore center said he dropped 10-15 pounds before the start of the season in hopes of gaining speed and limiting the chance of reinjury.

Coleman’s contusion was first announced by Boeheim after the sophomore center played just six minutes and missed the entire second half in SU’s 78-62 win over then-No. 8 Villanova on Saturday.

He wore a grey sweatsuit on the bench during the EMU game and walked around during pregame warm-ups and timeouts without a noticeable limp.

“DaJuan’s a trooper,” Grant said after the game. “He’s hurt, but he’ll still try to play on it. Now we’re trying to rest him up and get him back as soon as possible.”

The Orange hosts the Hurricanes at 2 p.m. Saturday. If Coleman can’t play, Christmas and senior center Baye Moussa Keita are expected to split time in the middle of the zone once again.

Published on January 3, 2014 at 3:38 pm

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1