Bourama Sidibe Out Four Weeks with Torn Meniscus

Syracuse senior center Bourama Sidibe suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee in the Orange’s season opening win against Bryant, Syracuse Athletics announced on Monday. Sidibe will have surgery on Tuesday, December 1st. He is expected to be out approximately four weeks, according to an estimation provided by Associated A.D. for Sports Medicine Brad Pike.

If Sidibe does miss four weeks, that would make him available around December 29th. Syracuse plays at Wake Forest on December 30th and at North Carolina on January 2nd. He could, in theory, be back for one of those games depending on his recovery. Syracuse has six games before the matchup with Wake Forest. They include home contests with Niagara and Rider before hitting the road for the ACC Big-10 Challenge to face Rutgers. Syracuse plays at Boston College, home against Buffalo and home against Notre Dame during that stretch as well.

In his absence, senior forward Marek Dolezaj is expected to start at center. That will move Alan Griffin into the starting lineup. Freshmen reserve center Frank Anselem and sophomore reserve center Jesse Edwards saw limited minutes in the season opened, but could see the floor more often going forward. Boeheim has made it clear that with Sidibe out, Syracuse’s best lineup is with Dolezaj in the middle.

Sidibe has struggled to stay healthy throughout most of his Orange career, but put together a full season last year. He came on over the final six games, and the hope was he would then that into a most consistent effort in 2020-21.

Syracuse won the season opener 85-84, despite Sidibe leaving the game with that injury just a few minutes into the first half. The Orange next play Niagara on Thursday, December 3rd in the Carrier Dome.