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Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim: ‘I’ve gotta coach for five or six more years’

ACC Basketball Tournament - Second Round

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 08: Head coach Jim Boeheim of the Syracuse Orange in action againt the Miami (Fl) Hurricanes during the second round of the ACC Basketball Tournament at the Barclays Center on March 8, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

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Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim has had an interesting offseason.

The 72-year-old is now in position to be the Orange’s head coach for longer than anticipated after previous coach-in-waiting Mike Hopkins went back West to take the Washington job in late March.

Boeheim made some remarks about his coaching future at the annual ‘Cuse Awards that were held earlier this week as he even referred to potentially being around for more than half a century.

It’s hard to know if Boeheim’s comments were serious or if he was trying to have some fun with his school’s athletics community during and end-of-season awards gala but here is his intro, according to Nunes Magician.

“I hope everybody’s having a great year,” he said. “I didn’t. Normally when you lose your last game, you’re really upset. Not so much when you’re in the NIT.”

The camera immediately went to John Gillon and Tyus Battle who couldn’t hold back laughter.

The Hall of Famer continued, “Not only did we lose the last game, but then I find out I’ve gotta coach for five or six more years.”


The “I’ve gotta coach for five or six more years” is especially interesting because Boeheim immediately inked an extension with the Orange following the sudden departure of Hopkins this offseason. While there were unconfirmed reports that the extension was through the 2021-22 season, according to Adam Zagoria, that year would seem to make sense for one major reason.

Boeheim still might coach his son, Buddy, at Syracuse over the next few years.

Buddy Boeheim is a Class of 2018 wing who has Division I potential after a big junior season at local Jacksonville-DeWitt High School. The 6-foot-5 Buddy Boeheim had a very positive first weekend in the Nike EYBL with the Albany City Rocks this April as he averaged 9.7 points per game and shot 50 percent from three-point range.

Since Boeheim might be able to coach his son with the Orange, it does open up the unique possibility that he does decide to coach for another five or six seasons. While Buddy Boeheim isn’t any kind of elite talent, he does have the potential to be a rotation player at Syracuse if he continues to improve -- most programs could certainly use a 6-foot-5 floor spacer.

Buddy is currently deciding whether to return to Jamesville-DeWitt for his senior season, or test himself more by going to a prep school for next season, according to Donna Ditota of Syracuse.com. Keep an eye on Buddy’s decision here, because a prep school for him during his senior year could be a move that is designed to help him adjust to Syracuse and the ACC.

Either way, Boeheim has an interesting dilemma regarding his future and it doesn’t appear that he’s stepping down anytime soon.