The first time Kennedy Winston touched a basketball as a Division I player was in Alabama's victory over Arkansas on Wednesday.

Christian Drejer's first play in a college basketball game for Florida will also come in an SEC game, likely against Tennessee next Wednesday.

	Christin Drejer played two exhibition games at Florida, but injuries have delayed his regular-season debut.

Billy Edelin, meanwhile, joins Syracuse's backcourt just in time to go head-to-head with Brandin Knight at Pittsburgh next Saturday.

Each are freshmen who had their college debut delayed. But, unlike the recent additions of Chris Massie at Memphis and Marvin Stone at Louisville, none can be expected to have the impact on their teams like Massie and Stone the past two weeks. At least not right away.

Massie and Stone joined their teams for abbreviated senior seasons, which means each had at least some experience at the Division I level. Massie played a full season at Memphis last year before declaring and then withdrawing early for the NBA draft. Stone played two-plus seasons at Kentucky before transferring to Louisville in the middle of last season. Each were ineligible the first semester, but previous Division I experience is why Massie and Stone will have more of an impact than late additions than the freshmen just now getting on the court.

But that doesn't mean Winston, Drejer, and especially Edelin, won't make a difference. Edelin, while he may not start against Pittsburgh on Jan. 18, will become Syracuse's lead point. And, as soon as he's comfortable, Edelin will become the Orangemen's primary ballhandler.

"He's a big part of this team," said Syracuse senior Kueth Duany. "When he plays, our team will finally start to gel. He's been practicing and everyone gets along great. There are no agendas. Billy is a natural leader and gets everyone involved and makes everyone better."

Edelin's college career has been delayed since last fall. He was supposed to play last season, but was suspended from school in October of 2001 due to an alleged sexual abuse complaint by a female student. No charges were filed, but Edelin withdrew from school, was in counseling and performed 100 hours of community service. To stay busy, he played in a Syracuse men's league, sometimes 4 on 4 and with players 40 and over. And that turned into a problem when he applied to Syracuse again in the spring and re-enrolled in August, 2002.

Even though he wasn't a student at Syracuse, the NCAA ruled that he played in an unsanctioned league and was suspended for the first 12 games of this season.

"This suspension was easier to deal with than what happened last year," Edelin said. "It wasn't the same magnitude."

Syracuse argued that Edelin didn't know the rule since he wasn't in school. The coaches weren't aware of it, either. The suspension is the single longest for an individual by the NCAA. Michigan's Jamal Crawford was suspended for a total of 14 games durning the 1999-2000 season for two separate infractions -- six games for improper living arrangements while a high school player in Seattle, and another eight for declaring for the NBA draft while still high school after after having signed a letter of intent to play for Michigan.

Edelin was allowed to practice with the Orangemen. But, until last week, he was running the scout team. But as the days and games ticked off, the staff knew Edelin's debut was coming. It was time to get him some minutes running the Syracuse offense -- with the first team.

"I'm not selfish," Edelin said. "I haven't been doing anything that would mess everything up. They know I've worked hard and waited my turn. I don't have any personal agendas that I have to take care of when I get back on the court."

The Orangemen haven't exactly struggled without Edelin. Then again, Syracuse has only left home twice -- once to open the season with a loss to Memphis in New York City and then to open the Big East season with a win over Seton Hall in New Jersey.

"We're winning, so that cures everything," Syracuse assistant Troy Weaver said. "We're excited to get him on the floor, but we've got B.C. (Saturday) and Missouri (Monday) first."

Both of those games are at home, before the Orangemen have four days to prepare with Edelin in the lineup at Pitt.

"I'm sure I'll be called names on the road," Edelin said. "But as long as I get the support at home, and everyone here has been great to me, I'm going to help my teammates anyway I can. I'm real excited to play with Carmelo (Anthony) and he's been giving me the most encouragement."

	It took a full season for Chris Massie to make an instant impact at Memphis this season.

As for going up against the reigning co-Big East player of the year in his debut?

"There's no bigger game than that," Duany said. "This will be a challenge for him and for us."

Edelin's absence has allowed another freshman guard, Gerry McNamara, to put up some impressive numbers. When the news of Edelin's suspension broke just hours before Syracuse's opener in the Coaches vs. Cancer, the focus suddenly shifted to how McNamara would handle running the Orange's offense. All McNamara has done is average 14.7 points and 5.1 assists. While his numbers might go down a bit when Edelin returns, and his role will certainly change, McNamara isn't going to complain.

"I'm a guard," McNamara said. "I don't label myself. I can play the two or the one. We're all going to be better because of (Edelin's) passes."

Syracuse knows it needs Edelin to become an elite team, or at least a lock for the NCAAs. The same was said about adding Stone (14 ppg, 9.5 rpg) at Louisville, who sat out the first semester. The Cardinals haven't lost since he became eligible, neither has Memphis since adding Massie to the lineup five games ago. In the case of Massie, however, he was billed as the inside compliment to Dajuan Wagner last season, but didn't live up to expectations as a junior college all-American transfer. But last season has certainly made a difference this season. Massie is leading the Tigers in scoring (19.6 ppg), rebounding (11.6) and field-goal percentage (70.2).

"He has been unbelievable," Memphis coach John Calipari said. "He doesn't have the anxiety he had last year. And we've played all good opponents."

Memphis, Louisville and Syracuse all need their additions. Do Alabama and Florida? Yes, assuming the fresh faces prove productive.

Winston played 12 minutes against Arkansas after missing the first 11 games during an NCAA/Alabama investigation into any funds paid to him prior to college through his summer hoops program. Winston scored six points (1 of 3 from the field, 4 of 6 from the line), grabbed two rebounds and had two assists. But Winston's 12 minutes took away from senior guard Terrance Meade, who only played three minutes after averaging 19.6 minutes a game in Winston's absence.

But, will taking minutes away from a player who helped the Tide reach No. 1 develop into a problem for Alabama head coach Mark Gottfried? If Winston can become a scoring wing, helping Mo Williams on the perimeter and aiding inside players Erwin Dudley and Kenny Walker, then adding him midseason will be an advantage. But if the Tide find they've got one too many players, Gottfried understands there could be some chemistry problems.

"You could have some issues," Gottfried said. "But we'll adapt fine. We will embrace him. It's not an ego problem, it's a role problem. We're just readjusting our team."

Gottfried said he's committed to getting Winston involved on the court. He said he knows he and the team could take a few lumps along the way, but the end results will be worth the effort.

"But he doesn't have games to catch up against Morehead State or Alabama State," Gottfried said. "He's got to jump in against the SEC. That makes it harder. He missed a great deal of learning time."

Winston was at least able to practice. Drejer hasn't been able to get on the court since suffering a hip flexor, ankle injury and rare infection then got into his ankle to form an abscess the size of an orange. Drejer, a Danish teenager who was coveted by European professional leagues before choosing to play at Florida, had to have the abscess surgically removed and was on antibiotics for a few weeks. He was cleared to play last week, but Florida coach Billy Donovan said the Dane's conditioning wasn't ready for live action. That's why he held him out of the Gators win at Mississippi State on Tuesday and why he isn't expected to play him against Georgia on Saturday.

Once he does take the court in a real game, Drejer could siphon minutes away from Brett Nelson, Justin Hamilton, Matt Walsh or Anthony Roberson. But if the Gators play their frenetic style, it shouldn't be a problem. Drejer is a point forward, able to play four positions, which should make Donovan able to juggle minutes within a versatile lineup.

"But I don't want the expectations to be too high on him," Donovan said. "He could make a huge impact by February or March, but he has to regain his conditioning. Before he got hurt he was impressive. The biggest thing for him will be mentally. He got hurt the last time going in for an offensive rebound.

"He doesn't want to disrupt chemistry," Donovan said. "He's so appreciative of getting in there. He just wants to win and get better."

All five of these midseason additions -- Edelin, Winston, Drejer, Stone and Massie -- got a second chance to play this season and were expected to be impact players. Two have been, one is just starting to get a chance, while the other two are arriving next week.

By March, Syracuse, Alabama, Florida, Louisville and Memphis should be even better because of their midseason additions.

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