Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said  Jerami Grant will definitely return from a sore back for the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. His status for the team’s regular-season finale against Florida State on Sunday at 2 p.m. is still undetermined.

“We think he’ll be back for the ACC tournament for sure,” Boeheim said at a press conference Friday. “And there’s a real possibility, a probability even, that he could be back for Sunday. When he’s ready, he’ll go.”

Grant did not dress for the Orange’s 67-62 loss to Georgia Tech on Tuesday and played just 26 minutes combined in the previous two games as he was unable to move well enough after halftime.

Grant returned to practice Thursday, and Boeheim said he expected him to continue participating in part over the next two days.

“He probably will practice a little bit today and tomorrow,” Boeheim said, “but his status is still how it has been. It just depends how he feels. If he’s capable of playing then he’ll play Sunday.”

Boeheim said freshman Tyler Roberson, who made his first career start in Grant’s place against the Yellow Jackets, will start against against the Seminoles if Grant can’t play.

Roberson managed just two points on 1-of-4 shooting and three rebounds in 23 minutes Tuesday. After the game, Boeheim said Roberson wasn’t ready to play and that he didn’t know the offense or defense.

Boeheim said on ESPN CNY Radio on Tuesday that the decision to start Roberson was in part to allow Michale Gbinije to be more versatile off the bench now that he’s splitting time at three positions.

“He’s working in practice,” Boeheim said of Roberson. “We’re trying to get him up to speed. The problem is you don’t, as a coach, play somebody you don’t see things out of.

“… If you watch practice and you watch our freshmen, you can see that they’re not ready. If I’m not smart enough in 40 years to realize when a guy’s not ready, I shouldn’t be coaching in the first place.”

Still, Boeheim said that Roberson has the potential to contribute. He showed some signs of that by scoring five points in the final minutes of SU’s 75-56 loss to No. 5 Virginia on Saturday.

Said Boeheim: “Tyler Roberson has some very good athletic ability. He has some talent. He could go in and play.”

Published on March 7, 2014 at 4:22 pm

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1