Syracuse freshman forward Chris McCullough suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee and will miss the remainder of the 2014-15 season, the school announced Monday.
McCullough went down with the injury during the first half of Syracuse’s 70-57 win over Florida State on Sunday night and did not return.
“You can’t worry about something that you can’t do anything about,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said on the ACC conference call with league coaches, according to Syracuse.com.
The 6-foot-10 New York City native is averaging 9.3 points and 6.9 rebounds for the Orange. He is projected as the No. 26 pick in the NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com.
One NBA scout told SNY.tv that “hopefully” McCullough will remain in school for the 2015-16 season, but Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com said McCullough could still come out.
“Obviously, it’s not great for his draft stock but maybe it’s not a deal-breaker for him, either,” Givony, who plans to leave McCullough in the 2015 Draft class, told SNY.tv. “Anyone who decided to pick him would have done so knowing he’s not going to contribute much in the NBA next year anyway. He might still be able to find a team that’s willing to invest a draft pick in him knowing he’s a long term project.
“Nerlens Noel and Spencer Dinwiddie were in similar situations tearing their ACLs mid-season, but regardless both decided to enter the draft,” Givony also Tweeted.
Givony added by phone: “Not all ACL tears are made the same. We won’t know the full extent of the injury until he has the surgery in the next few weeks.”
Syracuse is now down to eight scholarship players after Boeheim announced last week that sophomore big man Dajuan Coleman will miss the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery.
Tyler Roberson, a sophomore from Roselle (N.J.) Catholic will start in McCullough’s place, and Chinonso Obokoh will back up starting center Rakeem Christmas, Boeheim said.
Photo: USA Today Sports
