Former FSU Basketball Starter Out For Season With Injury

The former Seminole will miss the remainder of the year after suffering a foot injury.

Former Florida State Basketball center Naheem McLeod, who now plays for Syracuse, is out for the season after a foot injury that required surgery, per Syracuse coach Adrian Autry in his post-game press conference. A few different Syracuse writers posted about it. Syracuse was set to play the 'Noles in New York next Tuesday, January 23rd, which would've had some interesting storylines. 

Syracuse coach Adrian Autry just announced that Naheem McLeod had surgery on his foot and is out for the season

— Mike Waters (@MikeWatersSYR) January 17, 2024

With McLeod now out of the lineup, Coach Autry has turned to small-ball with Maliq Brown starting the last couple of games at 6'8". They're not as reliant on their 2-3 zone as they were under Jim Boeheim, but they've had to use it in recent games. 

This is now McLeod's second season-ending injury he's suffered in his career, as a broken thumb against Clemson in 2022 ended his first season on campus. Foot and lower body injuries are unfortunately somewhat common in people this tall, so hopefully it's not a recurring theme for McLeod. 

Standout Defensive Tackle To Return To FSU Football In 2024 With New Number

Naheem McLeod was averaging a 3.9 PPG and career highs in rebounds and blocks at 4.3 RPG and 1.9 BPG. Florida State's switch-everything scheme defensively was never a great fit for him, and it seemed he was being utilized better for the Orange on the defensive end. Offensively, he's still limited to looks around the rim and putbacks. 

He had started all 14 games he had appeared in this season after starting 16 of his 46 games in Tallahassee. McLeod's biggest moment for the 'Noles came against Duke in 2022, where he put up 9 points and 7 rebounds, 6 on the offensive end, in Florida State's upset win over the 6th ranked Blue Devils. He transferred to Syracuse following the 2022-23 season. 

---

READ MORE: FSU Football Staffer Expected To Take Position With SEC School

Stick with NoleGameday for more coverage of Florida State basketball throughout the season.

Follow NoleGameday on Twitter and Facebook