Former Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has many admirable qualities. He's one of the best and winningest college basketball coaches of all time, for starters. But over his 47 year career, he was never known for his grace and never had much grace afforded towards him as a result. As he slinks off into retirement, this has sadly become the defining narrative, the weirdness and artlessness of his quasi-retirement has overshadowed the warm remembrances that he deserves. If you ask Mike Kryzewski, the former Duke coach and a close friend of Boeheim's, that is totally wrong.
“In Jim's case, he was never completely sure,” former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told ESPN. “When you do something as long as he has in the place that he's done it — he was never completely sure.
“The other day was awkward,”Krzyzewski added. “Syracuse the university and Syracuse athletics and Syracuse basketball, they should all be one in making this announcement. The fact that there's any ambiguity is wrong. It's not right. I would hope that if that is the case — I'm not saying it is, but I would hope things get right quickly and be celebrated the way it should be.
“It should not be awkward. No way.”
During his 47 years as Syracuse's coach, Boeheim won 1116 games and guided the Orange to five Finals Fours, three national title game appearances and one national championship in 2003. In addition, he served on Krzyzewski's staff with Team USA, winning three gold medals as an assistant coach for the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
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