Syracuse Basketball: Michael Gbinije 'Absolutely, Definitely' Coming Back Next Season

For all the unknowns surrounding the 2015-2016 Syracuse Orange, and there have been even more of them introduced in recent weeks, none was more curious than the comments made by Michael Gbinije following the season-ender against N.C. State.

At the time, the would-be fifth-year senior said that he would "more than likely" return for his final year at SU.

"I don't want to say a definite yeah, but I really like Syracuse, I like the program and I like the place itself. I probably will. Seriously. I will. We get a week of spring break and I'll just take some time to think about things, plan out the summer and take it from there. I graduate this year. I was planning to do what (Rakeem Christmas) did with graduate school next year. That's really my plan and goal right now."

Considering most of us figured that was a foregone conclusion, it was a bit scary to think about the Orange losing a leader like Gbinije at a time we'd need him most. Who's to say what Gbinije's motivations were...testing pro waters, waiting to see how the NCAA thing played out... However, any worry was for naught as Donna Ditota put our minds at ease late last week in the comments section (making this the only time you should actually read the comments on Syracuse.com):

I'm assuming everybody's figured out by now that Mike Gbinije is absolutely, definitely coming back to SU next season. He left the door slightly open after the Orange's last game this season, at N.C. State.

Gbinije and Trevor Cooney are scheduled to graduate in the spring. Gbinije said he will seek a master's degree in his final season of college basketball; Cooney will presumably do the same. Gbinije redshirted a year after transferring from Duke. Cooney redshirted his freshman season at SU.

So there you go. Crisis averted. Carry on.