On Tuesday, Boeheim indicated his future would be in the hands of the university. The Orange will be led by current assistant coach Adrian Autry next year.
Boeheim’s 1,015 victories are good enough for sixth all time amongst men’s head coaches. There would be more, but Syracuse was stripped of 101 wins in 2015 after the NCAA completed their investigation into several violations.
After announcing he would originally retire in 2018, Boeheim remained on an indefinite extension, following the departure of apparent successor Mike Hopkins. Hopkins would take the head coaching job at Washington, getting the Huskies to three straight postseason berths (two NCAA Tournament, one NIT) in his first three seasons, but nothing since 2019.
The 78-year-old Boeheim was suspended for nine games in the 2015-16 season as part of the NCAA’s punishment for the aforementioned violations. The 101 vacated wins are the third-most in NCAA history (113 by Michigan for the Ed Martin scandal, and 123 by Louisville sex scandal).
To go with his 1,015 wins, Boeheim was the 2010 National Coach of the Year, won the 2003 National Championship, appeared in five Final Fours, won five Big East Tournament Championships, and won gold as an assistant on the 2008, 2012 and 2016 United States men’s basketball Olympic teams.
Boeheim was elected to the National Basketball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2005, and was part of the inaugural class in 2016 for the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
The legendary coach founded the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation in 2001, after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. The foundation focuses on child welfare, along with prevention and treatment of cancer. During a game in the early 1980’s, Boeheim grabbed a microphone during a then-Orangemen home game at the Carrier Dome to warn the fans if they continued to shout racial taunts at an opposing player, the team would forfeit the remainder of the contest.
The opponents were the Georgetown Hoyas. Their head coach was John Thompson. The player was Patrick Ewing.
Syracuse is 17-15, after losing to Wake Forest in the second round of the ACC tournament. An NIT bid might be a longshot at this point, and we may have seen Boeheim’s final game on a Division I sideline.
There is not a doubt Boeheim ranks among the elite in the history of college basketball head coaches, regardless of gender. The numbers would be better without the violations, but you cannot ignore that the extra victories would put him on the Mount Rushmore on the men’s side. Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, Adolph Rupp at Kentucky, John Wooden at UCLA and Dean Smith at North Carolina all have more National Championships. Smith only has one National Coach of the Year as well.
Keep in the back of your mind as well that Rupp was the head coach during the 1951 Kentucky point shaving scandal, despite evidence later confirming he had no connection to the controversy.
With the 2023 NCAA Tournament starting next week, Boeheim might be more on the “two-line” with legends like John Calipari, Bob Knight and former assistant turned Hall of Famer himself, Rick Pitino. Notice each of the latter three all have National Championships, but at least one significant NCAA sanction staining their record.
When Krzyzewski retired after 42 seasons at Duke after last season, the program was expected to take a few seasons before regaining their expected stature. John Scheyer got the Blue Devils to 23 wins, and possibly another ACC Tournament Championship. Syracuse always recruits well, but it might be some time before they regain the standing Boeheim is leaving the program in.
This happens when the man who made your program what it is will no longer be there after almost half a century.
-JC24