Jalen Carey didn’t suit up on Wednesday when Syracuse hosted Cornell. At first there was speculation about Carey transferring. However, Matt Park – the voice of the Orange – cleared up all speculation.
Park mentions that the injury initially took place last summer. That may have been a reason why Carey has struggled so much. Carey has appeared in just two games, and scored a collective three points. He’s also had three turnovers.
Initially, it seemed like Carey’s poor play spilled over from last season, and he simply lost the job and was relegated to Jim Boeheim’s dog house. That could still be the case. Even when Carey returns, it is extremely unlikely he unseats Joe Girard as the starting point guard, and he may have lost the backup role to Brycen Goodine as well. 
But Boeheim has mentioned multiple times that Carey will play more once he starts playing better in practice. Once recovered from the thumb injury, maybe Carey will play better and his court time will tick up. 
“I don’t know how much it hampered his play, if it did at all,” Boeheim said when asked about Carey’s injury. “But it just needed to be fixed at this time. It’s an eight or ten week recovery period so he would certainly be able to get a medical redshirt out of this too.”
If Carey does decide to medically redshirt, he would then have the same years of eligibility as Girard and Goodine. And if he decided to transfer he would still have three years at another school. 
Clearly Boeheim didn’t seem to think that Carey’s injury was the reason for his struggles. We will continue to see how Carey’s situation unfolds, but as for now, he will have time to recuperate, and work his way back to being the player that showed flashes of stardom.
