Syracuse Basketball: Jim Boeheim Discusses DaJuan Coleman's Health

You were probably feeling positive about your day today. And it's unlikely you were even focusing on Syracuse basketball, what with Syracuse football just around the corner and all. Well, Jim Boeheim has some news for you about DaJuan Coleman:

"He's doing his workouts every day. He's walking. We hope to have him doing something in July. But I don't anticipate him running until August, maybe even possibly September. And then it will be, 'Is it going to hold up?' He might be running, he might be all right, but is it going to hold up? We just don't know."

... That doesn't sound good.

For a team that already figured to have a problem plugging in experienced players in 2014-15, this is certainly less-than-great news. Boeheim's also not one to just mess around when it comes to telling media the status of certain players, so it's extra disconcerting to see such a lengthy and non-definitive timeline laid out.

Back in simpler times, when Coleman was sending out svelte Instagram photos and sharing stories of juice diets and protein, we were hopeful that the one-time high school phenom was getting healthy enough to play again. His absence in the latter half of 2013-14 had a significant impact on SU's capabilities inside and obviously his return would do the Orange a lot of good. Based on Boeheim's feedback, though, it appears we have a lot more waiting to do:

Boeheim said he is "hopeful" that Coleman will be physically fit and able to contribute this season.

"That would be a big positive if he can do that," he said.

/dies.

***

At this point, we should probably go ahead and burn the redshirt on him, no? It doesn't feel great to do so, but what are our other options here? We do have Rakeem Christmas and Chino Obokoh ready to go in the middle, along with standout recruit Chris McCullough. So at least there's size to plug in at the center and power forward positions. Coleman's working hard, but if it's not coming together, I think we may be better off using the redshirt on him and having him return at 100 percent in 2015-16.

Of course, there are no guarantees there, either, though. Coleman's major injury last year was due to a collision in practice, so it's not as if keeping him out of games for awhile keeps him safe. More than anything, I just want Coleman -- who seems like an all-around good kid -- to just get an opportunity to live up to his potential and play a healthy season or two.

Like Jim Boeheim said to Syracuse.com:

"He's doing everything he can do and I feel bad for the kid. He's really disciplined. He's really lost some weight. He's done everything you can ask a guy to do."

Hoping for your full recovery, DaJaun -- whenever that may be.