(U-WIRE) SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Prior to Tuesday night's game against Colgate, DeShaun Williams wore a blue warmup suit and watched from the Syracuse bench as his teammates ran through their drills.
He would come no closer to the court.
Williams served the first game of a suspension stemming from his arrest from a driving while ability impaired violation last April 7.
After SU's win over Colgate, head coach Jim Boeheim hinted that Williams' suspension will last three games. That would mean Williams would miss Thursday's meeting with Cornell and Saturday's matchup at Albany.
After the game, Boeheim blasted the athletic department's policy regarding player suspensions, calling it "irrational."
"Any student that has a problem is dealt with by judicial affairs," Boeheim said. "But then the athletic department adds on a game penalty. I've been against it since we started the penalty system. Game penalties hurt the team and the fans, as well as the program.
"If you have the need, if you want an extra punishment, I'm not one of those people, but some people do. Then it should be something that punishes the athlete and not the team and the fans. That's the problem I have with the system. I don't like the system. I never have. I've been against it since Day 1. But no one seems to listen to coaches' opinions."
Boeheim suggested that if the athletic department wants athletes to face consequences from both the team and the university, it should consider community service or counseling as additional punishments instead of suspensions, which Boeheim said are detrimental to team development.
The team did not learn of the suspension until Tuesday, several players said.
Center Jeremy McNeil said he was unaware of the suspension until he saw Williams wearing his warmups before the game.
