Syracuse Basketball dismisses former starter Benny Williams from program

Syracuse forward Benny Williams, who was a starter for the Orange last season, has been dismissed from the team, Syracuse announced Tuesday morning on Twitter.

The junior was averaging 5.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game in 2023-24.

“Benny Williams has been dismissed from the Syracuse men’s basketball team,” Syracuse said in a statement. “Everyone involved with the program wishes Benny the best.”

No reason was given as far as why Williams was dismissed from the program, but he has been in trouble before. The former top-40 recruit missed a couple of games at the start of the season due to a violation of team rules.

Benny Williams signed with Syracuse as a four-star recruit and the No. 32 overall player in the country in the class of 2021, according to the On3 Industry rankings.

He came to Syracuse after attending IMG Academy in Florida. Williams averaged 16.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game as a senior in high school.

Williams was an immediate contributor for the Orange as a freshman. He appeared in 29 games, averaging 1.9 points and 1.4 rebounds per contest.

As a sophomore in 2022-23, Williams moved into the starting lineup. He appeared in 30 games, making 24 starts, and saw a large increase in production. That season, he averaged 7.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.

With that said, he did miss a game last January, leading to an awkward exchange between then Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim and a reporter.

Boeheim declined to provide any details as far as why Williams missed a game against Virginia.

“Benny took a personal day. He will be back at practice on Wednesday,” Boeheim eventually said, after first asking the reporter “Is that your question? That’s the most important question you have?”

Williams moved back to the bench for the 2023-24 season, but he was still a regular contributor, before being dismissed from the team on Tuesday.

After missing the first two games of the season for a violation of team rules, he went on to play in 18 games. He was averaging 5.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, while playing an average of 17.1 minutes per contest.

Even in Syracuse’s most recent game on Saturday against Wake Forest he played 24 minutes, finishing with 7 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. His minutes had seen a boost recently as he played 24, 25 and 25 minutes in Syracuse’s three most recent games after reaching the 24-minute mark only once prior to that.

It will be interesting to see if any more information comes out about Williams being dismissed from the team in the coming days and weeks.