Syracuse, N.Y. -- Geno Thorpe didn't have a huge role, but his abrupt departure from the Syracuse basketball program leaves a huge hole for the Orange.

Syracuse University issued a brief release on Friday afternoon to announce that Thorpe had left the program for personal reasons.

Thorpe, a 6-foot-3 guard who had transferred to Syracuse from South Florida, had played in all six of Syracuse's games this season, but he had averaged just 14.3 minutes per game. He was averaging 6.0 points and 1.0 assists per game.

However, Thorpe was the primary backup to both point guard Frank Howard and shooting guard Tyus Battle. As a fifth-year graduate transfer, he provided experience on a team that had no other scholarship seniors.

Thorpe's decision to leave the Syracuse basketball team leaves SU coach Jim Boeheim with just eight available scholarship players on his roster.

The only other guard on the team aside from the starting duo of Howard and Battle is Howard Washington. The 6-3 freshman from Buffalo has appeared in three of the Orange's first six games. He is averaging just 6.7 minutes per game and has yet to score this season.

The importance of having Thorpe on the bench came to the forefront twice in SU's first six games. When Syracuse struggled offensively against Texas Southern, Thorpe came off the bench to score 13 first-half points.

Thorpe also gave Boeheim a veteran to turn to when Battle injured his back in the second half of Syracuse's Nov. 22 game against Toledo.

While Thorpe had not made much of an impact on the Orange, the SU coaches had pointed to the ankle injury that he suffered during preseason practice. The injury sidelined him for almost two weeks.

Syracuse hasn't shot the ball well from the 3-point line as a team, the SU coaches have said that they hoped Thorpe would begin hitting his outside shots once he became more comfortable.

Howard is already averaging 34 minutes per game despite the fact that Syracuse's first five games were against teams from mid-major conferences. He has played the entire 40 minutes three times.

Battle is averaging 32.1 minutes per game despite missing 13 minutes of the Toledo game after injuring his back.

Other than using Washington more, Boeheim could turn to one of his forwards to move up top in the zone. Matthew Moyer, a 6-8 redshirt freshman, has played at the top of the zone at times in practice. But that was more of a defensive measure.

Oshae Brissett, a 6-8 freshman, is a better outside shooter and might be able to handle some minutes as the two-guard in SU's offense.