Benny Williams dismissed from Syracuse basketball team

The junior is out of the program

Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Syracuse Orange junior forward Benny Williams has been dismissed from the team. Syracuse Athletics announced the news Tuesday morning on its social media platforms.

Williams played in 18 games this year, all of them off the bench. He averaged 5.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per game. This comes off a sophomore season in which Williams started 24 of the 30 games he played in, averaging 7.2 points and 4.1 rebounds in the 2022-23 season.

Benny missed the first two games of the regular season due to a “violation of team rules”, which head coach Adrian Autry was unwilling to expand upon. He also sat out the second game of the Maui Invitational, presumably for similar reasons. In total, Williams has not played in four of Syracuse’s 22 games this season, after featuring as a starter in the first Orange preseason game.

Williams joined Syracuse as a highly rated prospect and the only Orange recruit in the class of 2021. He was a five-star recruit by Rivals, a four star recruit everywhere else, and a consensus top-42 player in the nation coming out of IMG Academy. Williams unfortunately never reached the potential that his ranking brought, never averaging above 10 points and five rebounds in his Syracuse career.

As for the current Syracuse roster, the Orange continue to be depleted at the power forward position. Without Williams, Justin Taylor and Chris Bell will most likely have to fill the void at the four, potentially leading to more three guard lineups that Adrian Autry will have to trot out onto the court. The Orange have nine games left in the regular season before the ACC tournament, starting with a Wednesday night contest against Louisville.