SU center Naheem McLeod out for remainder of 2023-24 season

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Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry confirmed Tuesday that center Naheem McLeod will miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season. Following SU’s 69-58 conference victory over Pittsburgh, Autry said McLeod underwent surgery on his right foot. Before the road contest, McLeod released a cryptic post on X.

“Everything went well,” Autry said of McLeod’s operation. “We’ll be, just, kinda going from there.”

This comes after the 7-foot-4 center was ruled out indefinitely due to a right foot injury, according to a post on X by SU Athletics. The announcement was made under two hours before Syracuse’s home matchup with Boston College on Wednesday.

McLeod, a junior Florida State transfer, has started every game (14) for the Orange so far this season averaging 3.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. McLeod’s notable performances include a 13-point, nine-rebound outing against Chaminade at the Allstate Maui Invitational and a five-block display versus Canisius on Nov. 8.

Following Syracuse’s 80-68 victory over Georgetown on Dec. 9, head coach Adrian Autry cited that McLeod’s foot was irritated in response to postgame questions concerning his limited playing time — a season-low four minutes. There had been no updates on the injury since, as McLeod participated across SU’s ensuing four contests.

Sophomore forward Maliq Brown will likely step into McLeod’s place in the starting lineup. Brown is coming off of a career-high 26-point performance, achieved during SU’s loss at Duke on Jan. 2, but has shouldered many of the minutes at the center position this year. He averages 23.5 minutes to McLeod’s 14.4.