Updated 7:12 p.m.

After months of speculation, Onondaga Community College transfer Cody Jamieson will likely be eligible to play for the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team, according to a report confirmed by his former coach at OCC.

‘Cody called last night and told me,’ said former OCC head coach Chuck Wilbur. ‘I haven’t heard from Coach (Roy) Simmons III or (head coach) John Desko, but he called me last night so I guess that’s a start.’

The Post-Standard first reported about Jamieson’s eligibility this morning. Syracuse head coach John Desko confirmed with the Daily Orange thursday following practice.

‘We had an inkling it was going to happen last night,’ Desko said. ‘To be honest, I don’t know when it was confirmed this morning but it was confirmed.’

A star junior college attack, Jamieson first enrolled at SU as a part-time student last fall. He joined the team in the winter and was allowed to practice. He was not allowed to play in games until the NCAA granted a waiver regarding the proper transfer of all his junior college credits.

But this afternoon, Wilbur told The Daily Orange that Jamieson contacted him last night with the news that he was likely to return to the field.

‘He was really excited on the phone last night,’ Wilbur said. ‘Obviously he was a little disappointed that he missed almost the whole year except the last two games and the playoffs but he was saying ‘You know what? My dream’s come true. I’m going to play at Syracuse University and whether it’s a year and a half or the full two years at least I’m fulfilling my dream.”

With his clearance, Jamieson will be able to finish out this season with one more year of athletic eligibility afterward, Wilbur said.

Jamieson garnered a ton of attention in his two years over at OCC. He led the team a pair of undefeated seasons and national JUCO titles. He scored 237 points in his two seasons and took home the 2007 JUCO Male Athlete of the Year Award and the 2007 Tom Longboat Award (Aboriginal Athlete of the Year). In 2006, he played at OCC with current Syracuse starting defender Sid Smith.

Jamieson, a native of Six Nations, Ontario and a 5-foot-9, 200-pound player, will look to take the field this Saturday when the No. 3 Orange plays Massachusetts. In Jamieson absence, junior Chris Daniello and redshirt freshman Tim Desko have filled Syracuse’s void as left-handed attacks. Daniello has scored 17 goals and Desko has scored nine.

corr@syr.edu

Published on April 22, 2009 at 12:00 pm