Jim Boeheim defined Syracuse basketball in every way
He arrived on campus at Syracuse University in 1963, walking on to the basketball team. Over the next 60 years, that kid from Lyons, New York became a man as synonymous with a basketball program and university as anyone in college sports.
When you think of Syracuse basketball, a singular name has always come to mind: Jim Boeheim.
[Jim Boeheim retires after 47 years]
A run of 47 years at the helm came to an end on Tuesday following the Orange’s ACC Tournament loss to Wake Forest, an anti-climactic finish to Boeheim’s tenure that hoops circles had been discussing in recent weeks and months.
Make no mistake about it: the 2005 Hall of Fame inductee goes down as one of the 10 best coaches in the history of the sport. Look at the 1,015 victories, good for second all-time in men’s college basketball history. There’s the national title in 2003 — sure, there are some who would argue that he won only one. But once you reach the Final Four anything can happen among the absolute best teams in the country. Boeheim led the Orange to five appearances on college basketball’s biggest stage, and in impressive fashion, accomplished that feat across four different decades.
On top of that, his Orange reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament 20 times in his 47 years.
And in the process of all of that winning, Boeheim as a strategist became the master of something over every other coach with a patented staple, the 2-3 zone. He seldom backed away from it, and it formed one of the Rubik’s Cubes of college basketball.
Jim Boeheim steps down after 47 years
As I sit here writing this column from inside Madison Square Garden at the Big East Tournament, it’s fitting. You can’t tell the story of the Big East Conference without Boeheim, who is such a rich part of the fabric of the league’s history that he would land on a Mount Rushmore of the league’s all-time coaches.
Think about this: Boeheim coached in, and won, the most memorable game in Big East history — the 2009 conference tournament quarterfinal victory over UConn.
Boeheim ended up climbing the ladder at MSG five times in the conference tournament, adding another 10 regular season crowns in the Big East in the process.
Think about the players that he’s synonymous with from the Orange: Carmelo Anthony, Sherman Douglas, Derrick Coleman and Gerry McNamara to name a few.
Beyond his success on the hardwood, Boeheim was a love-hate figure in the sport and had zero issues with that. He spoke his mind, sometimes crossing the line. But when the Hall of Famer did make a point, people listened, and he didn’t care if he hurt somebody’s feelings in the process. One point of criticism: His conduct around student media reporters should have been better over the course of his career.
But, you knew that whenever Boeheim talked, it wasn’t going to be a throwaway comment.
The ending to his run came in Boeheim-like fashion, with a rather condescending press conference exchange in which the head coach stated that his future status was up to the university.
Should Boeheim have handled that better? Yes, but that was a sequence of quotes that shows his overall personality, and in a way, how much he can’t see himself doing anything other than coaching Syracuse.
It’s a reflection of the impact of this news: the longest era by a player-turned-coach at one university has come to a conclusion.
And with the direction that Syracuse has been heading in, it’s time for someone else to run the program. Former Orange point guard great Adrian Autry, who’s been on Boeheim’s staff since 2011, deserves this opportunity.
It was time for the career of the legend to come to an end, and by the same token, there’s no question Boeheim will be missed for what he gave to the sport.
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.
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