ESPN News Services3 minute read
After 47 seasons, Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim will not return as men’s basketball coach at Syracuse, it was announced Wednesday.
Just hours after the Orange lost 77-74 to Wake Forest on a 3-pointer in the ACC Tournament, Syracuse announced that associate head coach Adrian Autry, who has been on the staff since 2011, will be promoted. to replace the 78-year-old Boeheim.
“There is no doubt in my mind that without Jim Boeheim, Syracuse basketball would not be the flagship program it is today,” Chancellor Kent Syverud said in a statement. “Jim has invested and dedicated the majority of his life in building this program, cultivating generations of student-athletes and representing his alma mater with pride and distinction. who embodies what it means to be ‘Orange Forever.'”
After Wednesday’s loss, Boeheim hinted that he would retire, but said it was up to the university to decide his future.
“As I said from day one when I started working here, the university hired me, and it’s up to them what they want to do,” Boeheim said. “I always have the choice to retire, but it’s up to them whether I coach or not. It always has been.
“…I was just lucky to be able to coach for so long.”
Boeheim later added, “I gave my retirement speech last week, and no one took it up.”
The timing of Syracuse’s announcement that Autry, a former Boeheim player, would return to the program was not set until Wednesday, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Boeheim has an official coaching record of 1,015-441 over his career – with 101 wins having been overturned due to NCAA rule violations between 2004-07 and 2010-12 that resulted in penalties. Retired Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski holds the Division I career record with 1,202 wins, with Boeheim ranking second with either total.
He took Syracuse to the NCAA Tournament 35 times and qualified for the Final Four on five of those trips – winning the national title in 2003. He has 58 official NCAA Tournament wins, which ranks him fourth in all the time.
“I was very lucky to be able to coach my varsity team, play, then be an assistant coach and then a head coach, without ever having to leave Syracuse,” Boeheim said Wednesday. “It’s a great university. The city has embraced our team. I’m amazed that we’ve been able to attract the fans we’ve been able to attract over the years.
“…I was incredibly lucky to keep this job. Mike Brey is thrilled he was at Notre Dame 23, he’s a puppy. I turned 47. I have to train my sons. Two years ago we were in the Sweet 16. And last year I coached my sons…. I wanted to come back and coach those guys, and that’s what I was able to The university didn’t offer me anything, work or do anything at the university, it’s their choice.
His 47 seasons at Syracuse trailed only Jim Phelan, who coached Mount St. Mary’s for 49 seasons between 1955 and 2008, in single-school longevity.
Boeheim, who had 23 players selected in the first round of the NBA draft, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005. He also served as an assistant coach for three U.S. basketball teams that won gold medals Olympics.
Syracuse awaits all possible playoff bids with a 17-15 record. Excluding seasons where wins were overturned due to penalties, it was the second-worst single-season winning percentage of his coaching career – ahead of only the 2021-22 team, which went 16-17 .
Autry had long been the administrative choice to succeed Boeheim, sources said, but the timing was only finalized after Syracuse’s loss to Wake Forest.
Autry, a 1994 graduate, has been Syracuse’s top recruiter and staffer since returning to his alma mater in 2011. He has strong ties to New York and the Washington D.C. area, and is also a connection to the storied past. in program history.
Boeheim has been synonymous with Syracuse for over six decades. He was born in Lyons, in central New York State, not far from Syracuse. He enrolled in the school in 1962 as an extra, eventually becoming captain of the then-Orangemen with Dave Bing.
In 1969, Boeheim was hired at Syracuse as a graduate assistant. And in 1976, he took over as head coach of the program. He has been its face ever since.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.