In a crowd of orange jerseys in the center of the turf field in Manley Field House, Randy Staats was nowhere to be found.

Staats, an Onondaga Community College transfer, verbally committed to Syracuse last February but was not at the team’s media day on Monday. SU head coach John Desko said he couldn’t comment on Staats “until a letter of intent is signed,” and added, “I wish I could.”

According to OCC head coach Chuck Wilbur, Staats is taking a winter class at OCC and can’t enroll at Syracuse yet.

SU Athletics spokesman Mike Morrison echoed that in an email to The Daily Orange.

“(Desko) is not permitted to comment on Randy until he matriculates,” Morrison said. “Along the same lines it would be premature to list him on the roster until that process is complete.”

At OCC, Staats helped the Lazers to a championship in each of his first two seasons and was named the National Junior College Athletic Association Player of the Year as a freshman. In that season he collected 57 goals and 82 assists, breaking the school’s all-time single-season scoring record.

If his transfer process goes as planned, Staats will join an already stacked Syracuse attack featuring senior Derek Maltz, junior Kevin Rice and redshirt sophomore Dylan Donahue. Staats has two years of NCAA eligibility remaining.

—Staff writer David Wilson contributed reporting for this story.

Published on January 6, 2014 at 6:47 pm

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