Boeheim bids ’Cuse farewell
Syracuse formally introduced new men’s basketball coach Adrian Autry on Friday, but it turned into more of a celebration of Jim Boeheim, the Hall of Fame coach Autry is succeeding.
The practice facility was packed with Syracuse officials and coaches, current and former players, and Otto the Orange, the mascot.
All of them were there to watch the passing of the torch from the 78-yearold Boeheim, who led the program for 47 years and turned it into a national brand, to Autry, who played for Boeheim from 1990-94, became an assistant coach prior to the 2011-12 season and promoted to associate head coach in March 2017.
Autry told the crowd he was committed to the “Orange standard” Boeheim had built, “the history of winning, the history of playing hard and competing for championships.” He added that decisions were yet to be made on his coaching staff, but noted that his teams would be “versatile” on defense as opposed to sticking 100% with Boeheim’s legendary 2-3 zone.
But when Boeheim walked onto the gym’s floor — accompanied by his wife Juli and daughter Jamie — it became apparent this was his day. Boeheim coached his final game Wednesday, a 77-74 buzzer-beater loss to Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina. Director of Athletics John Wildhack reviewed Boeheim’s myriad accomplishments.
Boeheim also finally uttered the “r” word many thought they’d never hear: “I’m thrilled to be retired. I’ve felt the best the last two days that I’ve felt in 47 years.”
Ex-Alabama player Miles indicted on capital murder charges: Former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and another man have been indicted by a grand jury on capital murder charges for the January shooting death of a 23-year-old woman near campus, defense lawyers confirmed to The Associated Press on Friday.
Pastner and Anderson both fired: St. John’s fired men’s basketball coach Mike Anderson on Friday, one day after his fourth season in charge ended with an overtime loss to No. 6 Marquette in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals . ... Josh Pastner was fired Friday as Georgia Tech’s basketball coach, two seasons after he guided the Yellow Jackets to a surprising Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title. Pastner was dumped after seven seasons.
Layups: Brandon Miller had 18 points and nine rebounds and No. 4 Alabama won 72-49 over Mississippi State in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Friday . ... Bruce Thornton had 21 points and six assists, freshman Roddy Gayle Jr. scored seven of his season-high 15 points in the final five minutes and short-handed Ohio State beat fourthseeded Michigan State 68-58 on Friday in the Big Ten Conference Tournament . ... Nick Honor hit a 3-pointer with 1:45 left to put Missouri ahead to stay, and the No. 25 Tigers beat No. 17 Tennessee 79-71 Friday to reach the SEC Tournament semifinals for the first time.