USA TODAY International Edition
Boeheim’s 47- year influence will endure at Syracuse
He was intimidating, yet educational. Cantankerous, yet affable. Sometimes, at least.
Jim Boeheim oversaw the Syracuse men’s basketball program for 47 years, in that time becoming synonymous with not just the city, but all of Central New York. Throughout that era, which ended Wednesday following the Orange’s Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament loss to Wake Forest, he displayed a complicated personality.
Yet through it all, Jim Boeheim was Syracuse. Syracuse was Jim Boeheim.
I learned that quickly, long before I ever stepped foot on the Syracuse University campus officially as a student. I learned it even more once I started covering his team as a reporter, first as a stringer for the Associated Press, later as a beat writer for The Daily Orange, the student newspaper.
Boeheim began every postgame press conference with a long opening statement. He covered every detail that any reporter could need about the game, giving analysis of his players’ performances – give Boeheim credit, he didn’t sugarcoat anything as so many coaches often do. If a player didn’t play well, he wasn’t afraid to say it. At the time it was surprising, but in the years since I’ve come to appreciate that type of honesty.
Regardless, those press conferences were like a master’s class in basketball. Whether you agreed with him or not, he broke down his decisions and reasoning. I still think back to something he often said: “It’s not who you play, it’s how you play.”
When Syracuse was beating up on lowly nonconference opponents, his point was that the result was only part of the equation. A lopsided win only means so much if execution on the court was poor.
I froze at Syracuse from 2009 to 2013, and in that time the Orange was one of the best teams in the nation. My freshman year Syracuse achieved the top spot in the Associated Press Top 25. My senior year?
Well, Syracuse sputtered at the end of its regular season. In the final game, the Orange was throttled by Georgetown 61- 39. After the game Boeheim remarked that he was “ready to play golf somewhere.” Retirement talk swirled.
Certainly, the then- 68- year- old was telling us he was finished, that he was ready to cede the program to then- assistant head coach Mike Hopkins.
Instead, Boeheim led the Orange to the Final Four. Hopkins eventually left to take over at the University of Washington, and Boeheim coached another decade.
That decade ended Wednesday, when Syracuse announced The Boeheim Era was over.
Boeheim wasn’t the easiest coach to cover as a reporter. Far from it.
He led Syracuse to plenty of success. He also was at the helm for several controversies.
One thing always remained clear: Syracuse isn’t Syracuse without Jim Boeheim. From the billboards to the radio and television commercials that feature him, Boeheim’s presence will remain a fabric of the city.
Could he be surly? Sure. Could he be helpful? Absolutely.
Boeheim was complicated. Without him on the sideline, Syracuse will never be the same.