Jim Boeheim is 77- years old and taking increased heat from unhappy Syracuse fans who think it’s time for him to retire after a disappointing 15-14 season that just got worse after a 92-72 loss to Duke Saturday night at the Carrier Dome.
but he has no plans to step down at the end of the year
“You don’t need to ask this,” Boeheim said after the Devils’ game. “Asked and answered 26 thousand times. Every press conference I gave in at the beginning of the year is, ‘I have no intention of not coaching.’. I’ve said it 30 times. Because we’re having a bad year, you want me to quit? I don’t quit because we’re having a bad year.”
Boeheim added he is still recruiting for next year and has told all the incoming players he plans on returning.
“I told every recruit, we have a pretty good recruit here today, I’ve told every one of them I’ll be coaching next year. So I don’t know what you need me to do or say,” Boeheim said.
Boeheim’s comments came after 75-year- old coach Mike Krzyzewski, who will retire after this season, made his last trip to the Dome. Syracuse presented Coach K with a framed picture of him and Boeheim before the game.
Krzyzewski will go out on a high. The Devils should win the ACC regular season and be a 1 or 2 seed in the tournament.
Boeheim, who coached both of his sons Buddy and Jimmy this year, will continue tilting at windmills.
Boeheim has won games and a national championship in 2003. He has been inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame. He has been coaching Syracuse for 46 years since 1976. Despite the fact Syracuse has rarely moved the needle in the regular season when the school left the Big East for the ACC in 2013-14, he has total support from AD John Wildhack. “You don’t win over 1,000 games and suddenly lose the ability to coach,” Wildhack said. “I’ve got tremendous confidence in Jim. I’ve got tremendous confidence in his staff. If we don’t make the tournament, obviously it would be a disappointment.”
Boeheim may be a beloved figure in college basketball, but Syracuse basketball is slipping into the abyss. The Orange have lost to Duke by a combined 45 points this year. They have not been in the Top 25 since the 2019 season. They have not earned higher than an 8 seed in the NCAA tournament or finished higher than sixth in the ACC.
But Boeheim still has some March madness magic. He coached the Cuse to a Final Four in 2016 and a pair of Sweet 16s in 2018 and 2021 as a double- digit seed.
Boeheim and his staff still has the ability to attract talent. His 2022 class is ranked in the Top 25 and if Boeheim signs 6-3 combo guard Judah Mintz from Oak Hill Academy, it could move their final ranking to Top 15.
Boeheim is supposed to be out on the golf course full time by now. He was supposed to retire in 2018 following NCAA sanctions placed on the program in 2015. The plan collapsed in 2017 when assistant Mike Hopkins took the Washington job after Wildhack gave Boeheim an extension.
No one knows when Boeheim will ride off into the sunset now. It will be his decision to decide what is best for the program
