It’s official. After weeks of speculation, Jim Boeheim has announced that F/C Dajuan Coleman will redshirt this year and comeback healthy next season. Coleman had a complicated procedure on his knee to repair multiple injuries last January. One year later and he is still not on the court, and is slowly making progress towards a return to the court.
On the court, Coleman could have provided the Orange with some rebounding and defense. In his two years, Dajuan has grabbed about 4 rebounds a game and scored about 4.5 points per game. But he never fully lived up to his potential.
Coming out of Jamesville-Dewitt, so much was expected out of Coleman, to be a dominant big man. But he never quite got there. Injuries and lack of productivity have derailed his career.
Looking at this year’s team, Coleman could have played a big role in giving Rakeem Christmas short breaks at the center position without having to play Chris McCullough at the 5. Maybe if he were healthy, Coleman could have started at the power forward position and allowed McCullough to grow and develop better as opposed to needing to throw the true freshman into the fire.
For what its worth, if Coleman can comeback healthy at the start of next year, he could play a large role for the Orange. It is possible he slides into the starting center spot after Rakeem Christmas leaves. Or maybe he comes off the bench and plays the role of a veteran leader on what will likely be a very young team with a top recruiting class coming in.
Dajuan Coleman will miss the rest of the year, and every Orange fan can just hope that he comes back healthy and can make an impact next year for SU.
Posted:  Seth Goldberg
