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After the culmination of his 47th season at the helm for the Orange, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim will no longer coach Syracuse, according to a press release from Syracuse Athletics. The 77-74 loss to Wake Forest in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament — which moved his final season to a 17-15, 10-10 ACC record — marked his final game as the head coach of the Orange.

Associate head coach Adrian Autry will take over as head coach.

Speculation of 78-year-old Boeheim’s retirement has swirled for nearly a decade, with an announced succession plan in place for then-assistant head coach Mike Hopkins. He ultimately ditched the plan in 2016 when it was announced that Boeheim signed an extension with the Orange through the 2021-22 season. At the same time, Boeheim’s youngest son, Buddy Boeheim, committed to Syracuse and Boeheim scrapped his announced plan to retire in April of 2018. 

Boeheim went on to get bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament the next season, see a .500 ACC team get its season cut short by COVID-19 and miss the postseason altogether for the first time under his tutelage. Calls for his retirement mounted after Syracuse finished 16-17, but he told syracuse.com that he was staying for at least another season, and that there was “a plan in place” for a successor — SU’s second such plan in the last 10 years.

Amidst a season in which he played six true freshmen, relied on Joe Girard III’s inconsistent shooting and depended on the rebounding ability of an undersized Jesse Edwards, Boeheim chided against the new era of name, image and likeness, calling out some ACC foes and saying that they “bought a team.” He also clung to a 2-3 zone that saw the Orange allow the most 3-pointers in the conference, at times calling out his players — before eventually calling out himself — for not having the skill level to play the zone well enough.

Boeheim hinted at his retirement after Wednesday’s second round loss to the Demon Deacons in a convoluted postgame press conference. He said that he made his retirement speech after the Orange’s final regular season game on Saturday. Boeheim said, though, that the decision to bring him back for another season is ultimately the university’s call. After bringing in a signing class of six freshmen and knowing Girard, Edwards and Benny Williams were coming back, Boeheim said he decided to stay for another year.

“The university hired me, and it’s their choice on what to do. I always have the choice to retire, but it’s their decision. I’ve been very lucky to coach my college team … and never having to leave Syracuse,” Boeheim said.

But Boeheim stands as one of the winningest coaches in NCAA basketball history, compiling 1,014 recognized wins and taking Syracuse from a solid team under then-head coach Roy Danforth to a national powerhouse. Boeheim finished 26-4 in his first year as head coach and took SU to the Sweet 16 after eight seasons as an assistant coach under Danforth. It was the first of 35 eventual NCAA Tournament appearances, 18 Sweet 16 berths, seven Elite Eight appearances, five Final Fours, three national championship appearances and the culminating national championship in 2003, headlined by freshman Carmelo Anthony.

When the Orange moved to the Big East in 1979, he went on to win the regular season conference title 10 times and the tournament title five times. He was inducted into the NCAA Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005 and was named coach of the year in 2010 after going 30-5 and losing in the Sweet 16. 

After the 2014-15 season, the NCAA suspended Boeheim for nine games to start ACC conference play and took away 12 SU scholarships over the next four years for violating the league’s code of conduct. A multi-year investigation found that, beginning in 2001, the university had committed academic violations, including giving athletes impermissible assistance from tutors and mentors. It also found that the university gave basketball players improper academic benefits and didn’t follow its own drug policy. As punishment, the league vacated 108 total wins between 2004 and 2012, the third-most wins ever permanently vacated by one program.

Boeheim began his career with Syracuse as a walk-on from Lyons, New York, eventually working his way up to becoming team captain his senior year with the Orange. In his final year as a player, Boeheim and Dave Bing led the team to a 22-6 record, earning the school’s second-ever NCAA Tournament berth. He played professionally with the Scranton Miners of the Eastern Professional Basketball League, but retired from basketball and joined Syracuse’s coaching staff under Danforth as a graduate assistant in 1969.

“I’ve been here for 47 years. I got to coach my sons,” Boeheim said. “I’ve just been lucky to be able to coach this long.”

Published on March 8, 2023 at 5:10 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt