The announcement that Daryl Gross is no longer Syracuse University’s director of athletics was accompanied by Jim Boeheim’s plan to retire in three years, Syracuse Chancellor Kent Syverud said in an email on Wednesday morning.

Gross — who will stay with the university as vice president, special assistant to the chancellor and an adjunct professor in the David B. Falk School of Sport and Human Dynamics — discussed Boeheim’s decision and legacy in an ESPN Radio Syracuse interview Wednesday afternoon.

“In terms of Jim, think about what he’s done for this community, he’s just branded it by himself in terms his success and his consistency,” Gross said on ESPN Radio Syracuse. “He’s just been absolutely terrific and I’m just proud of him and very happy for him as we go forward in knowing that he’s going to retire in three years.

“I know he’s got a lot of things he can do and three years is a long time, so I believe he’s going to have great teams.”

There has been no official announcement of who will replace Boeheim as SU’s head coach in three years, but SU assistant coach Mike Hopkins has long been considered the heir to the position.

Gross has explicitly pinned Hopkins as Boeheim’s replacement in the past, and continued to do so.

“I think with Mike Hopkins and if Mike transitions the way I hope he does as the coach-in-waiting,” Gross said in the radio interview, “the program will be in great shape. I think that it’s going to be in outstanding shape.”

As for the program that Hopkins — or other potential candidates — will inherit, Gross expressed confidence in the groundwork that Boeheim has been laying for 39 years.

“They’ve done a good job of branding that basketball program and there’s student athletes that are prospects that want to play at Syracuse and wear the Orange and that’s going to continue on because of (Boeheim’s) legacy,” Gross said in the radio interview.

“So kudos to him and I think it’s very meaningful that he’s listed what his tenure’s gonna be and you know he’ll go hard and compete like mad. And heck, I hope he wins three national titles in a row — it’d be fabulous.”

Published on March 18, 2015 at 3:34 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse