Syracuse Basketball: Franklin Howard Back at Practice, Could Play as Soon as Saturday

Syracuse has been without freshman Franklin Howard for its last two games against Miami and Clemson. The Syracuse Orange freshman has been battling an undisclosed illness which has caused him to miss practice. Now, Steve Infanti is reporting that he will be back off his hiatus. He's expected to be at practice within a day and could appear in Saturday's match-up against North Carolina.

Gerry McNamara tells me that they expect Franklin Howard to return to practice within the next day. May play Saturday vs. UNC.

— Steve Infanti (@SteveInfantiNC9) January 6, 2016

Syracuse has missed Howard in his absence as the Orange have gone 0-2 without him. Sophomore Kaleb Joseph played 11 minutes in the two games Howard was out and has gone 0-5 from the floor with three rebounds. Howard provides steady play and offers another guard to alleviate Michael Gbinije and Trevor Cooney in spots. Syracuse doesn't lose much when he's in the game.

Getting Howard back will be a big lift for the Orange -- If not a big gain on the court, it will be a big gain in morale as he and Jim Boeheim rejoin a struggling Syracuse team.