From the drawers of the Top Secret Fyles:
The inevitable occurred so quickly and unexpectedly that it slapped every college basketball fan in the face.
At 78, Syracuse University head coach Jim Boeheim’s 47-year tenure was ticking downward and he stepped down last week. The Lyons native devoted his livelihood to the university, whose teams played its home games at cozy Manley Field House early in his career to later the spacious and architecturally modern Carrier Dome when it opened in 1980.
Though Boeheim’s school exit was messy and his teams were only 33-32 the past two seasons, he put SU on the college basketball map. Along with playing its home games inside then a marvel and in the marquee Big East Conference, the SU’s program grew annually in the ’80s. The Big East was where the game’s second-winningest coach made his mark. There are times now observers have uttered, “Shouldn’t Syracuse have stayed in the Big East?”
It’s an interesting what-could-have-been. The ACC brought a new landscape and rivals to SU — Duke, North Carolina and Virginia. But the rivalry games against old antagonists Georgetown, Villanova and UConn have eroded.
In its nine-year ACC tournament history, SU has been no higher than a sixth seed except once (No. 2 in 2014), is 5-8 overall in 13 games and hasn’t made the semifinals once.
In a larger sample size in the Big East Tournament from 1983-2013 in New York, SU went 46-27 overall, made 13 finals, winning four times. SU played in eight of 10 tourney finals from 1984-93. Boeheim’s teams were a combined 84-73 against the Big East’s Georgetown and UConn, but is 5-14 against Duke.
Make no mistake, Boeheim has been a complex man but was a straight-ahead coach. When his Carmelo Anthony-led squad won the regional title in Albany en route to the 2003 NCAA national crown and a 30-5 record, Boeheim had a brutal cold but he was gracious to all.
Other times, like in January, Boeheim was surly to a university reporter who asked a simple question that required a simple answer, chastising him almost unmercifully.
When Boeheim formally stepped away last week, AP basketball writer Tim Reynolds responded on Twitter: “For the first time in 17,141 days, the sun rose over Syracuse and Boeheim wasn’t the coach. Some 10.7 million points were scored in the NBA during that span. There were nine U.S. presidents. There were 2,411 members of Congress. The Yankees won the World Series seven times.”
In his career, Boeheim saw how hoops changed. Now, we can only hope that we’ll see Boeheim in attendance at the Dome sometime next fall.
Times sports copy editor Richard Fyle can be reached at rfyle@wdt.net
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.