Syracuse beat Boston College yesterday in what felt like another run-of-the-mill SU-BC game. A little close, but the Orange eventually pulled away. Ho hum.
While most of us were sound asleep last night (or watching St. Mary’s beat Gonzaga), ESPN college sports scoop king Pete Thamel got exclusive access to Jim Boeheim. And let’s just say what came out was rather interesting.
The Fizz godfather here sums it up well. Boeheim has never been one to mince words, and this article is pretty much a full-bore attack on those who say the game has passed him by and NIL.
Let’s start here:
“Ninety-five percent of Syracuse people want me to coach,” he said. “Why wouldn’t they? As bad as we’ve been the last two years, we were fun to watch last year and we’re still fun to watch and we’re still competing. We just played three of the top teams in the country to a standstill. If you’re getting beat by 20 by those teams, then you say, ‘OK, we’ll see.’
Jim Boeheim to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, article linked above
We’re not here to split hairs about percentages, but you get the idea. It’s one thing to lose to good teams, but the way they’ve lost the close games is the maddening part. The freshman guard puts his blinders on and takes a wild layup with 10 seconds to go against Miami. The senior guard saves the ball underneath his own basket against UNC. Shots are missed down the stretch against UVA. That is not what anyone would deem “fun to watch.” It’s frustrating!
But judging your own team’s performance, and what the fans say about you, is one thing. Every coach has to do it at times. But things take a hard left rather quick:
“This is an awful place we’re in in college basketball,” he said. “Pittsburgh bought a team. OK, fine. My [big donor] talks about it, but he doesn’t give anyone any money. Nothing. Not one guy. Our guys make like $20,000. Wake Forest bought a team. Miami bought a team. … It’s like, ‘Really, this is where we are?’ That’s really where we are, and it’s only going to get worse.”
He added: “It’s crazy. That’s why those guys got out — that’s why Jay [Wright] got out, Mike [Krzyzewski] got out. That’s the reason they got out. The transfer portal and everything is nuts. It really is.”
Jim Boeheim to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, article linked above
Boeheim called Thamel on Sunday to retract his grievances with Pitt and Wake Forest. This is the part that has fans, both of Syracuse and otherwise, and national media, in a tizzy. And to be honest, it doesn’t make sense to us either. Neither Pitt nor Wake Forest has a five star player in its program. Neither team is ranked. What does it matter what they do when SU has just enough talent to compete with them? Miami is a different story, and Jim is very right there, but that’s been well-known since the summer, and again, the ‘Cuse were a clutch shot away from going to OT with the ‘Canes. NIL is not the only thing warping the men’s basketball landscape.
Meanwhile, how does Adam Weitsman feel about the whole situation?? It’s been highly publicized that the recycling mogul is ready to hand out NIL deals of up to $1 million to get ballers to the Hill. Elijah Moore was the first big get. There have been rappers and NFL stars sitting next to Weitsman at these big-time games. Does he take this as a slight?
The timing of this article is not great. Boeheim has been under fire, and deservedly so, in the past week. But it just seems as if the 47-year head man keeps digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole.
