Jim Boeheim already ‘gave my retirement speech’ as Syracuse season ends in crusher
Jim Boeheim might have spent his final season on Syracuse’s sidelines.
nypost.com
By Ryan Glasspiegel
Jim Boeheim might have spent his final season on Syracuse’s sidelines.
The 78-year-old Boeheim, who played for Syracuse from 1963-66, became an assistant for the team in 1969 and has been its head coach since 1976, implied that he might retire after a disappointing season.
Boeheim spoke to reporters after Syracuse lost 77-74 to Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament on Wednesday, as Wake’s Daivien Williamson drilled a 3-pointer with less than one second remaining to send Syracuse packing.
“I gave my retirement speech last week and nobody picked up on it,” Boeheim said.
“I’ve been unbelievably fortunate to keep this job. Mike Brey’s thrilled to have his job for 23 years. He’s a puppy.”
Boeheim was asked if this meant he’s retiring.
“This is up to the university,” he answered.
In a follow-up question, Donna Ditota of the Post-Standard asked the coach if he wished to return.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Boeheim responded.
On Saturday, Boeheim had said that he returned this season to fulfill a promise to veteran players.
“I came back here, promised six guys I’d be back to coach,” he said. “Never thought of anything else. You can’t tell six people you’re gonna coach ‘em and not coach ‘em. So there was never an issue, never an option not to. I’m glad we worked through this.”
Boeheim has been particularly ornery after games this season in which Syracuse went 18-12, and 9-9 in ACC conference play.
In January, after a loss to Virginia, Boeheim lashed out at a reporter for asking about the absence of starting forward Benny Williams.
“Is that your question?,” Boeheim snarled, and criticized the reporter’s attitude. “That’s the most important question you have?”
Boeheim won over 1,000 games at Syracuse, had a winning percentage of nearly 70 percent and won the 2003 national title with a squad led by Carmelo Anthony.
Boeheim addressed a potential retirement in February.
“Listen, this has been the question of the day for 15 years,” Boeheim said. “This isn’t a new question. It’s just the calendar going, ‘Well, he’s 78.’ It’s just the calendar. If it wasn’t the calendar, if I was 65, no one would be saying anything. And I’m not going to retire just because it’s the calendar.”
Boeheim claimed that 95 percent of Syracuse “people” still want him to coach next season — and “why wouldn’t they,” he asked.
“As bad as we’ve been the last two years, we were fun to watch last year and we’re still fun to watch and we’re still competing,” Boeheim continued. “We just played three of the top teams in the country to a standstill. If you’re getting beat by 20 by those teams, then you say, ‘OK, we’ll see.’”
