Syracuse men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim took an expected, indefinite leave of absence Monday to have surgery for an enlarged prostate.

The Syracuse staff said Boeheim would miss a minimum of two games. The ninth-ranked Orangemen play Hofstra on Tuesday, the first game Boeheim will miss in his 25-plus years of coaching.

Boeheim, who has been mum on surgery, will have the procedure Tuesday. It was disclosed in October that he needed to have the procedure, but Boeheim declined to answer questions during the Preseason NIT in New York two weeks ago.

"My doctors anticipate a return to coaching within a couple of weeks," Boeheim said in a statement released by the university Monday. "Associate head coach Bernie Fine will be in charge until I return.

"My health has always been a private matter and I would hope people would respect those wishes."

Boeheim and Fine have been together on the Syracuse bench for 25 seasons, second to Dave Bliss and Doug Ash at Baylor, who have been paired for 27.

Boeheim has suffered from an enlarged prostate gland for the last seven years, said Pete Moore, Syracuse's basketball sports information director. Boeheim has said he does not have cancer and that his problem was 100 percent treatable, Moore said.

Syracuse has been through a number of problems off the court but have been one of the most consistent teams on it. The season started with the dismissal of incoming point guard Billy Edelin for an alleged sexual assault. Junior point DeShaun Williams had to sit three games -- a suspension he just completed -- for a student code of conduct penalty for an alcohol-related incident. Freshman center Mark Konechny left the team last week for academic reasons.

No date was given for Boeheim's return. Aside from the Hofstra and North Carolina State games, he likely will miss games against Georgia Tech and South Florida in the next three weeks and could return against Buffalo on Dec. 29.

Boeheim has been a workaholic in hoops over the past year, coaching the USA Basketball team to the gold medal in Saitama, Japan at the World Championships for Young Men.

The Orangemen defeated Albany 91-65 on Sunday to improve to 8-0.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was also used in this report.