Syracuse Orange men’s basketball: forward Chance Westry unlikely to play this

The transfer has been out since the preseason with an undisclosed injury.

• By
  
  Dominic Chiappone
  
• on December 31, 2023 1:00 pm

The bench for the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team (10-3, 1-1) looks like it could stay one man short for the rest of the 2023-2024 season.

Coach Adrian Autry on Saturday said that there is “nothing definitive” regarding the potential return of Auburn transfer forward Chance Westry, who was ruled out indefinitely due to a lower leg injury on October 21. Westry was injured during a preseason practice, and the team confirmed in October that he would need a procedure.

“We don’t have anything definitive… he’s taking it and trying to work it so we don’t really know what the timeline is,” Autry said in a press conference after the Orange’s 81-73 win over Pittsburgh. “But you know, the one thing is when you’re in these situations, I always err on the side of caution because, you know, he has eligibility left and I don’t want him to rush back and something happens. So, take your time and we’ll see what it is.”

Autry said he is “not even hopeful” because he and the team “don’t even have a timeline right now.” Autry confirmed that while Westry is working out, he “hasn’t practiced yet.”

While neither Autry nor the program have officially ruled out Westry for the entire 2023-2024 season, it doesn’t appear that he is close to a return to action. The last report said Syracuse was hopeful that he’d be back in January, but yesterday’s news was less encouraging.

Westry previously missed the majority of his freshman year with Auburn due to a right knee injury, which required arthroscopic surgery. He ended up playing 11 games with the Tigers in the 2022-2023 season and averaged 2.5 points, 0.7 rebounds and 1.0 assists in over nine minutes per game.

Westry is a former four-star prospect and was ranked as the 37th-best player in the class of 2022 recruiting cycle. He transferred to the Orange over the offseason and looked to be a versatile combo guard/wing who can bring some spark for Autry and the team.

Our own James Szuba previously reported that Westry had four years of college eligibility left prior to the news about his preseason injury. Syracuse’s bench — recently sparked by the performances of Quadir Copeland, Maliq Brown and Benny Williams — will look to continue its performance moving forward potentially without Westry in the rotation.

As always, we will keep you posted if any new developments come up regarding Westry’s potential return.

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