Just minutes after Syracuse suffered a heart-breaking loss to Wake Forest in the ACC tournament on a buzzer-beater three-pointer, long-time Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim hinted that the game would be his last.
“I gave my retirement speech last week, and nobody picked up on it,” Boeheim said after the 77-74 loss to the Demon Deacons. When pressed on whether or not it was his official decision to retire, he stated, “This is up to the university… I just said it. I don’t know. I said this is up to the university.”
Shortly after, the university did announce that Adrian Autry would be replacing Boeheim as head coach.
The statement read: “Nearly 60 years ago, Jim Boeheim ’66, G’ 73 first arrived on the Syracuse University campus as an undergraduate student and walk-on with the men’s basketball team. Little did he know that six decades later, he’d be one of college basketball’s winningest head coaches, a national champion, a Hall of Famer, and one of the most prominent alumni of Syracuse University history.”
“Today, as his 47th season coaching his alma mater comes to an end, so too does his storied career at Syracuse University. Associate Head Coach Adrian Autry *94, one of Boeheim’s former players and long assistant, has been named the program’s next head coach.”
Boeheim retired with an official coaching record of 1,015-441 over his career. That puts him second of all-time behind retired Duke coach Mike Kryzyzewski, who has 1,202 career victories.
Boeheim did have 101 wins vacated because of NCAA rules violations that resulted in sanctions. Boeheim stated that the vacated games stem from the NCAA claiming members of the academic support staff and director of basketball operation Stan Kissel had done impermissible work for players. The NCAA also claimed a former player received money for giving a speech at the Oneida YMCA, but Boeheim said the money was paid back and the player had not been reinstated to the team.
Regardless, Boeheim will retire at 78 years old as one of the best coaches to ever coach the game. He made Syracuse a perennial powerhouse for decades and coached some of the best players in NBA history, including Knicks’ great Carmelo Anthony.
His final game was one to be remembered as well.
The Orange rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit to tie the game at 74 before Wake Forest senior guard Daivien Williamson won the game for the Demon Deacons with a last-second 3-pointer.
Syracuse could still extend their season by making the NCAA Tournament but with a 17-15 record that appears to be unlikely.
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