I am stunned to say that it looks like he actually is retiring. I really thought he was too stubborn to do it.
Boeheim retiring
- Thread starter bosox188
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This Syracuse reporter thinks it’s official.
View: https://twitter.com/DonnaDitota1/status/1633589474688143360?s=20
Other coverage is more equivocal.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/35813251/syracuse-basketball-coach-jim-boeheim-hints-retirement
View: https://twitter.com/DonnaDitota1/status/1633589474688143360?s=20
Other coverage is more equivocal.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/35813251/syracuse-basketball-coach-jim-boeheim-hints-retirement
This makes me very happy for a bunch of reasons. And as much as I wanted Boeheim gone, I have the utmost respect for him. He WAS Syracuse basketball for five decades plus.
AP confirms.
View: https://twitter.com/AP/status/1633597198741929984
Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, who transformed Syracuse into a college basketball power, is retiring after 47 years. http://bit.ly/3ZUM7W2
View: https://twitter.com/AP/status/1633597198741929984
Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, who transformed Syracuse into a college basketball power, is retiring after 47 years. http://bit.ly/3ZUM7W2
Adrian Autry was the PG for ‘Cuse when I was in high school in nearby Rome, NY. I l hope he is as successful a HC as he was a PG.
Boeheim is a legend with good, bad, and ugly history. He sure did put some fun teams out there over his half-century career, and despite his many flaws, I’ve enjoyed the heck out of being a ‘Cuse fan, likely because of him and not in spite of him.
Boeheim is a legend with good, bad, and ugly history. He sure did put some fun teams out there over his half-century career, and despite his many flaws, I’ve enjoyed the heck out of being a ‘Cuse fan, likely because of him and not in spite of him.
Both Ray Meyer at DePaul and now Boeheim coached their last games against Wake. The more you know...
Despite feeling that it was time to move on and being deeply frustrated by the program the last 6 years, I find myself really fucking sad. I've never lived during a time when someone else was the Syracuse head coach. Surreal. People talk about records that will never be broken. This is a career that will never happen again. The structure of the game just won't allow it. If Scheyer stays at Duke for 47 seasons, for example, he'll be 83.
Sports have changed so much since I started following sports (and Syracuse specifically) in earnest in the late-80s. Player movement is much more prevalent than it was then -- nowhere more so than college basketball -- but coaching movement, as well. Syracuse is probably a stepping stone job now (as it was when Boeheim took over). We'll never see that again. And it kind of sucks.
I remember when they signed Adrian Autry out of Tollentine. I was incredibly excited about him as a player. He was Boeheim's hand-picked point guard, and essentially started every game he played at Syracuse. Here's hoping he kills it as the head coach.
Sports have changed so much since I started following sports (and Syracuse specifically) in earnest in the late-80s. Player movement is much more prevalent than it was then -- nowhere more so than college basketball -- but coaching movement, as well. Syracuse is probably a stepping stone job now (as it was when Boeheim took over). We'll never see that again. And it kind of sucks.
I remember when they signed Adrian Autry out of Tollentine. I was incredibly excited about him as a player. He was Boeheim's hand-picked point guard, and essentially started every game he played at Syracuse. Here's hoping he kills it as the head coach.
This is overdue, but doesn’t seem like anyone comes our looking good here. Feels like this should have ended in a way that was more satisfying for all, but I guess that’s not usually how these things go.
Good accomplishments were amazing. He brought the school much more fame then they'd otherwise have. It didn't end well but I think this is a case where ending too late is better than ending too early.
With all this said, I don't think Syracuse ever reaches the same heights without him. There are so many basketball opportunities out there. Who wants to go to school in a shitty city where it's also fucking cold and dark for much of the school year?
I think that modern Indiana is probably a likely comparison for Syracuse's future.
With all this said, I don't think Syracuse ever reaches the same heights without him. There are so many basketball opportunities out there. Who wants to go to school in a shitty city where it's also fucking cold and dark for much of the school year?
I think that modern Indiana is probably a likely comparison for Syracuse's future.
You listed reasons not to pick SU. Here are some reasons in favor of a recruit choosing SU:
- Playing in front of a minimum of 18k every night, with the chance to play in front of 33k - the biggest crowds in college basketball.
- ACC is still a big time conference and you get to show your stuff against legendary programs.
- Oh and playing at North Carolina and at Duke is pretty cool.
- The school itself - if you care about that as a recruit - is pretty awesome.
- First rate facilities.
- A great heritage, if you care about that.
SU won’t likely draw the top players - with very rare exceptions, they never have anyway - but they should still be able to land some good players.
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Also a big reason.... Jim Boeheim is gone and the new coach might want to actually help his players improve instead of coaching with the intent of winning 1-2 tourney games a year with a gimmick so he could get a new multi-million dollar contract.
So for better or worse, I think that Boeheim was the school heritage and not the other way around.
ACC basketball is definitely a big deal and an attraction, but if you point is that you get to play against UNC and Duke that's not exactly a ringing endorsement of Syracuse themselves. I'd probably put Duke, UNC, NC State, Clemson, Miami, Florida State, Wake Forest as preferences to a Syracuse without an all time coach. Louisville, Notre Dame are probably swings and Virginia Tech, BC and Pitt are clearly lower. How you feel about this is going to differ a lot about what you think about Syracuse with Boeheim vs Syracuse without, but even Syracuse with Boeheim has not been an impressive draw the last few years. Is someone that's only played and coached under Boeheim really going to reinvigorate the program to outsiders?
Something went down here.
The timing is weird. I think that the University badly wanted him to officially "retire" and relieve them of the decision to "relieve him of his duties". I think Wildhack told him they intended to make a change and really wanted to give him the chance to announce his retirement, and wanted it done quickly so they wouldnt miss the portal timing.
I think he refused, and forced their hand.
I don't think there is going to be a long term rift or bad blood, but I do think it may be a little weird for at least a little while.
The timing is weird. I think that the University badly wanted him to officially "retire" and relieve them of the decision to "relieve him of his duties". I think Wildhack told him they intended to make a change and really wanted to give him the chance to announce his retirement, and wanted it done quickly so they wouldnt miss the portal timing.
I think he refused, and forced their hand.
I don't think there is going to be a long term rift or bad blood, but I do think it may be a little weird for at least a little while.
Yeah, this smells like a dismissal covered in a retirement. Jimmy does not seem to be playing along.
The upside of climate change is that it’s less cold and snowy in Syracuse than it used to be.
IMHO, Boeheim should have been nudged out after 2016 in the wake of our second probation. The past few years have been really unpleasant at times. Still, the guy is a legend and his program is responsible for some of my all time favorite life memories. It’ll be surreal to not see him prowling the sidelines next season.
IMHO, Boeheim should have been nudged out after 2016 in the wake of our second probation. The past few years have been really unpleasant at times. Still, the guy is a legend and his program is responsible for some of my all time favorite life memories. It’ll be surreal to not see him prowling the sidelines next season.
Exactly, also no mention anywhere in that release of him “retiring”. Uncomfortable which is really how it should be with Boeheim. This ending, while not the norm for a guy who has been with the same university for 60 years, just seems fitting for Jimmy. I’m also happy for Red.
Helluva run. I hope he enjoys retirement.
Yeah pretty clearly he was told he wasn't coming back, but was given an opportunity to tell the press he resigned, and he was having none of it. Which, on one hand, I can understand. If you are going to fire me, own it and let the world know that YOU fired the legendary Jim Boeheim, the face of Syracuse basketball for like 60 years. On the other hand, it's pretty selfish of Boeheim to just hold onto the job, even when he had previously laid out a plan for retirement that included Hopkins being his successor, and then he went back on that which kind of forced Hopkins to move on, and JB just kind of held the program hostage.
Just recognize that it was time. Go out gracefully. Give Autry - a guy you (Boeheim) love and respect - the best runway possible.
So I understand Boeheim not really loving how this went down but also...come on guy, take the high road here. Do it for the good of the program you've loved for so long.
Syracuse alumni here, I went to the 96 Final Four and championship game (ironically enough last final four not in a dome/football stadium). I wish Boeheim would have gone out more gracefully, however it's quintessential Boeheim. He's thin skinned to a fault, that's what made him great and maddening in one. He was a former walk on and always had that him against the world fighter/clawing mentality. Nothing was ever black and white with him.
I thank him and wish him the best. And as said above I truly hope he's not one of those people that can't live with out working. He has a lovely wife and just bought a house on Lake Skaneateles Hopefully he enjoys life but then again I do not think in his makeup.
I thank him and wish him the best. And as said above I truly hope he's not one of those people that can't live with out working. He has a lovely wife and just bought a house on Lake Skaneateles Hopefully he enjoys life but then again I do not think in his makeup.
This is my first post, so be gentle. My first memory of Syracuse Hoops growing up near Cooperstown was Roy Danforth's last stand. I am in my mid 50's and Jim Boeheim is pretty much all I have ever known of the Orange. I have mixed emotions about this news. Clearly Syracuse has lost its luster when it moved to the ACC. I still have a hard time watching them in a conference tournament that is not held at MSG. Boeheim coached teams were infuriating in the NCAA's back when they had real talent and surprisingly overperforming when they had little to no talent. How did that 1996 team ever reach the final? It is a no-win situation for the University. If the court you play on is named after you, you get the right to go out on your own terms. But still, as someone who wrote a book about how he bleeds orange, how can he take his legacy down with him? I wish Red luck. He was awesome in a line of semi-great point guards and I look forward to a Post-Boeheim season next year, maybe even a bit of Man-to-Man?
talk about horsing a dead flog. Hey, Ray, one more puckered simile for the hard-of-thinking crowd?
Roy Danforth (last I heard, alive and well and living on Cape Cod) had all the charm and wittiness that Boeheim lacked.
Regarding the bolded - getting to hang on long enough to coach your two sons despite a decade of gradually worsening results seems, to me at least, to satisfy 'getting to go out on your own terms'. YMMV, of course.
Nice post. As mentioned in the post above you, the same qualities that made Boeheim a great coach are the same reasons that he couldn't give up the gig to Hopkins and still has a hard stepping down, though I'm sure virtually everyone in his orbit is telling him to go and enjoy life.
Of course the question is, as others have mentioned, is whether he will be able to enjoy life without coaching.
I'm also of the age where I grew up (Western NY) on Big East basketball and haven't followed much college Bball lately but not surprised that there was no graceful exit for him. He did everything on his own terms, whether or not people agreed with him (and maybe because people didn't agree with him).
I hope Autry keeps playing the 2-3 as his main defense. If anyone is interested, here's a video of Autry talking about the 2-3.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmY3AF3m83A
They had better give up the 2-3. It gets roasted by teams in today's new "launch angle" basketball world. I don't mind if they use it on occasion, but it's time is past.
Yeah, the 2-3 zone needs to be burned and buried. It's fine as a change of pace D, but it can't be played 95% of the time given the quality of shooters these days.
Chasing the football $ has rendered Syracuse a basketball also-ran. Time for Jimmy to work on his golf game.
While joining the ACC was a necessary evil (more money for the Administrators???) leaving the BIG EAST was the beginning of the end of Cuse hoops as we know it.
It's a shame they couldn't convince the Big East Catholic schools (GTown, Nova, etc) to flip their football programs like UCONN credibly did ~15yrs ago. Heck PC, Seton Hall, St Johns could have gotten into the act. A Big East football league would have been nice and could have also recruited UMass, Bucknell, Colgate, William & Mary, BU, and Lehigh. Grown it organically and had some academic integrity along the way. But that's not how the NCAA works.
Instead, Syracuse is the orange-headed stepchild of the ACC. I am an unapologetic fan of the Old Big East
While joining the ACC was a necessary evil (more money for the Administrators???) leaving the BIG EAST was the beginning of the end of Cuse hoops as we know it.
It's a shame they couldn't convince the Big East Catholic schools (GTown, Nova, etc) to flip their football programs like UCONN credibly did ~15yrs ago. Heck PC, Seton Hall, St Johns could have gotten into the act. A Big East football league would have been nice and could have also recruited UMass, Bucknell, Colgate, William & Mary, BU, and Lehigh. Grown it organically and had some academic integrity along the way. But that's not how the NCAA works.
Instead, Syracuse is the orange-headed stepchild of the ACC. I am an unapologetic fan of the Old Big East
IMO he stayed a decade too long. That's not to say he didn't earn some modicum of say in when he decided to step away, and I take no issue with his success and dedication to the University and the program, but the game (IMO) has passed him by. Or perhaps more accurately, he was too stubborn to adjust to a game that has changed dramatically since even the 8th, 9th and 10th guys on rosters can drill shots from downtown. That 2-3 zone, so tough in its heyday, was a weakness of the team. I also wonder if the style of play did not attract players (although I agree that SU was no longer the attraction it was 25 years ago).
He got more out of his career than anyone could have hoped, including himself, and he's to be praised to the sky for the success he had. I just think he stayed way way way too long.
He got more out of his career than anyone could have hoped, including himself, and he's to be praised to the sky for the success he had. I just think he stayed way way way too long.
I wish he had ridden off into the sunset when Syracuse left the Big East. It became a different game and watching the Orange play the conference tourney in Greensboro was/is painful. He could just never get his footing in the ACC, but I am pretty sure Jim Calhoun, Rollie, Louie, and John Thompson would have had trouble too.
Watching the Big East tournament....man it's just SO much better, so much more electric, then the ACC tournament. By miles. I wish SU was still in the Big East, but....I also wish it was the old Big East. It's so weird (STILL) seeing Xavier and Marquette and Creighton and Butler duking it out in the Big East tournament.
But.....football, right?
-sigh-
But.....football, right?
-sigh-
Good question. I think MSG matters (I mean...Madison Square Garden vs. the Greensboro Coliseum??). That place is just meant for big-time basketball. I think right now it's a better conference (that isn't always the case, obviously, but it is now). And I think UConn being back in the Big East really amps up the electricity for the BET.
Agree that venue matters. Greensboro has a ton of history for the ACCT, but it did seem elevated when it was in Brooklyn in 2017-2018 and last year. I think the move to a Friday night semifinal and Saturday night final in the last few years has also helped the ACCT.
But ultimately it's probably about the rivalries. As a Cuse fan, you probably don't feel quite as invested in the matchups because so many of your opponents are founding ACC members?
Overall I do agree - the ACC tournament is lacking, at least in comparison to the "old" Big East tournament.
One final thought: I'm happy that Boeheim didn't retire when Syracuse joined the ACC, as it was enjoyable to see him and Syracuse up closer for this ACC/Duke fan. Had some great battles in the relatively brief time they've been in the ACC.
Yeah for sure. Some of the Duke-SU games of the mid 2010s when SU was new to the ACC were off the charts great. In the end, I suppose that the move to the ACC is overall good for Syracuse Athletics? At least from a financial perspective anyway, with, of course, football leading the way. But SU still feels like that red-headed stepchild (where did that saying come from, anyway?) in the conference. And of course, they haven't had much overall success in the ACC.
I honestly wish they'd just separate football entirely, and have these monster conferences and a whole different governing body, and then let the conferences go back to what they were for the other sports. I long for the old Big East, and even though it would never be like in the days of Thompson, Calhoun, Pitino, Louie, and Rollie, as we can see, those old rivalries still very much matter.
So yes to your question...SU vs. Virginia....just doesn't do it for me like SU vs. St. John's.