Syracuse's Arinze Onuaku Won't Play In Thursday's Sweet 16 Game Vs. Butler

Syracuse starting center Arinze Onuaku will not play in the Orange’s Sweet 16 matchup with Butler on Thursday because of the quad injury he suffered in the Big East tournament, according to Donna Ditota.

“He’s doing better,” SU coach Jim Boeheim said, “but he’s not practicing. He will not play.”

Boeheim was then very cryptic in refusing to speculate if Onuaku would be available should the Orange advance onto the weekend.

“He’s not playing this game,” Boeheim said. “That’s all I got.”

Syracuse has looked so good in their first two games that its easy to forget that they were without their starting center, and fourth leading scorer. Even without Onuaku the Orange should have a decided size advantage against Butler.

On Friday, Cuse Nation breathed a sigh of relief when the team doctor announced Arinze Onuaku would more than likely be back at practice on Monday and is return to action when the NCAA Tournament started was a foregone conclusion. Turns out that was either a gross overestimation or a flat-out lie cause Onuaku won’t practice all week and isn’t expected to play against Vermont on Friday. Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician wonders how the Orange will compensate for the loss of their 4th-leading scorer.

Boeheim went on record saying that DaShonte Riley can expect to see some serious playing time if Onuaku can’t go. Rick Jackson would take over center duties while Kris Joseph would start as a forward. The Orange might also shift Andy Rautins down to small forward if needed.

Lots to discuss and fret over on this one. The first thing that comes to mind…what if RickJack gets into foul trouble early? I can’t think of a worse time to have the DaShonte Riley coming-out party. Then again, maybe the big man will surprise us all and step it up. That’s what we can hope for I suppose.

While Syracuse earned the No. 1 seed in the East region Sunday night, not all the news concerning the Orange was good news. According to head coach Jim Boeheim, Arinze Onuaku will not practice until later this week, and it is unlikely that the injured center will play against Vermont in Syracuse's first round game on Friday.

Another report says that Onuaku is "unlikely to play in Syracuse's first two games of the NCAA Tournament."

Onuaku is dealing with an injury to his right quad suffered in a loss to Georgetown on Thursday in the Big East Tournament. He has not officially been ruled out of either game as of yet.