Jim Boeheim

Jim Boeheim

Jim Boeheim on the court at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY, prior to the start of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Syracuse
Conference	Big East
Record	887–303 (.745)
Biographical details
Born	(1944-11-17) November 17, 1944 Lyons, New York, USA
Died	March 18, 2012(2012-03-18) (aged 67) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania United States, USA
Playing career
Position(s)	Guard
Head coaching record
Overall	887–303 (.745)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
NCAA Division I National Championship (2003) Regional Championships – Final Four (1987, 1996, 2003) Big East Tournament Championship (1981, 1988, 1992, 2005, 2006) Big East Regular Season Championship (1980, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 2000, 2003, 2010, 2012) Gold medal – Men's Basketball (2008 Summer Olympics) Gold medal – FIBA World Championship (2010)
Awards
Naismith College Coach of the Year (2010) AP Coach of the Year (2010) NABC Coach of the Year (2010) Henry Iba Award (2010) The Sporting News National Coach of the Year (2010) Big East Coach of the Year (1984, 1991, 2000, 2010) John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award (2006) Clair Bee Coach of the Year (2000)
Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2005
College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2006

James Arthur "Jim" Boeheim (/ˈbeɪhaɪm/; born November 17, 1944 - died March 18, 2012) is the head coach of the men's basketball team at Syracuse University. Boeheim has guided the Orange to nine Big East regular season championships, five Big East Tournament championships, and 28 NCAA Tournament appearances, including three appearances in the national title game. In those games, the Orange lost to Indiana in 1987 and Kentucky in 1996 before defeating Kansas in 2003.

Boeheim currently stands in third place on the wins list of Men's NCAA Division I coaches. Among active coaches, only Mike Krzyzewski of Duke University has more wins, with a career record of 927 wins, achieved at two different schools, Army and Duke. Boeheim earned his 880th win on February 8, 2012, surpassing Dean Smith's 879 wins at North Carolina, for the most career wins as head coach at a single school.

Boeheim has served as an assistant coach for the United States men's national basketball team at the 1990 FIBA World Championship, the 2006 FIBA World Championship, the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2010 FIBA World Championship. In these outings, Team USA finished with two bronze medals and two gold medals, respectively. He will continue to serve in the same capacity at the 2012 Summer Olympics. In addition, Boeheim currently serves as the chairman of the USA Basketball 2009-12 Men's Junior National Committee, has served as the 2007-08 President of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), and currently sits on its Board of Directors. For his accomplishments, Boeheim was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2005.

Off the court, he has battled prostate cancer and has become a major advocate for Coaches vs. Cancer, a non-profit collaboration between the NABC and the American Cancer Society, through which he has helped raise $4.5 million for ACS's Central New York chapter since 2000.

Career

Playing

Boeheim was born in Lyons, New York. He graduated from Lyons Central High School. Boeheim enrolled in Syracuse University as a student in 1962 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in social science. During his freshman year, Boeheim was a walk-on with the men's basketball team. By his senior year he was the team captain and a teammate of All-American Dave Bing, his freshman roommate. The pair led the Orange to a 22–6 overall win-loss record that earned the team's second-ever NCAA tournament berth. After graduating from Syracuse, Boeheim played professional basketball with the Scranton Miners of the American Basketball League during which he won two championships and was a second-team all-star (SU Athletics). While at Syracuse University he joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity.

Coaching

In 1969, Boeheim decided to coach basketball and was hired as a graduate assistant at Syracuse under Roy Danforth. Soon thereafter he was promoted to a full-time assistant coach and was a member of the coaching staff that helped guide the Orange to its first Final Four appearance in 1975.

In 1976, Danforth left to become head basketball coach and athletic director at Tulane University. A coaching search then led to naught, and Boeheim was promoted to be the head coach of his alma mater. Apart from his brief stint in the pros, Boeheim has spent his entire adult life at Syracuse as a player, assistant coach or head coach, a rarity in modern-day major collegiate athletics.

In 34 years as head coach at Syracuse, Boeheim has guided the Orange to postseason berths, either in the NCAA or NIT tournaments, in every year in which the Orange have been eligible. The only time the Orange missed the postseason was 1993, when NCAA sanctions barred them from postseason play despite a 20–9 record. During his tenure, the Orange have never had a losing season, appeared in three NCAA national championship games (1987, 1996, and 2003) and won the national title in 2003.

Boeheim has been named Big East coach of the year four times, and has been named as District II Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches ten times. In 2004, Boeheim received two additional awards. The first was during the spring when he was awarded the Claire Bee Award in recognition of his contributions to the sport of basketball. During the fall of the same year Boeheim was presented with Syracuse University's Arents Award, the University's highest alumni honor.

Boeheim's coaching style at Syracuse is unusual in that, whereas many of the more successful coaches prefer the man-to-man defense, he demonstrates an overwhelming preference for the 2-3 zone defense.

In an exhibition game on November 7, 2005 against Division II school Saint Rose from Albany, New York, Boeheim was ejected for the first time in his career after arguing a call late in the first half in the Orange's 86–73 victory.

Boeheim has also been a coach for the USA national team. In 2001, during his seventh year as a USA basketball coach, Boeheim helped lead the Young Men's Team to a gold medal at the World Championship in Japan. During the fall of that year he was named USA Basketball 2001 National Coach of the Year. He was an assistant coach under Mike Krzyzewski for the US national team in the 1990 FIBA World Championship and 2006 FIBA World Championship, winning the bronze medal both times. He returned as an assistant coach under Mike Krzyzewski for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, where the United States won the gold medal.

Molestation scandal

In November 2011, Boeheim apologized for accusing an alleged molestation victim of fabricating the story for financial gain. Victim's rights activists had expressed concern that Boeheim's accusation could have a chilling effect on other sexual abuse victims coming forward. The scandal led USA Today to question whether Boeheim would remain head coach at Syracuse.

Death

Coach Boeheim died in a tragic elevator accident shortly after his Syracuse team defeated Kansas State in Pittsburgh, PA.

Records and accomplishments

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Syracuse (NCAA Division I Independent) (1976–1979)
1976–77	Syracuse	26–4			NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1977–78	Syracuse	22–6			NCAA First Round
1978–79	Syracuse	26–4			NCAA Sweet Sixteen
Syracuse (Big East Conference) (1979–present)
1979–80	Syracuse	26–4	5–1	T–1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1980–81	Syracuse	22–12	6–8	6th	NIT Runner-up
1981–82	Syracuse	16–13	7–7	T–5th	NIT Second Round
1982–83	Syracuse	21–10	9–7	5th	NCAA Second Round
1983–84	Syracuse	23–9	12–4	T–2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1984–85	Syracuse	22–9	9–7	T–3rd	NCAA Second Round
1985–86	Syracuse	26–6	14–2	T–1st	NCAA Second Round
1986–87	Syracuse	31–7	12–4	T–1st	NCAA Runner-up
1987–88	Syracuse	26–9	11–5	2nd	NCAA Second Round
1988–89	Syracuse	30–8	10–6	3rd	NCAA Elite Eight
1989–90	Syracuse	26–7	12–4	T–1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1990–91	Syracuse	26–6	12–4	1st	NCAA First Round
1991–92	Syracuse	22–10	10–8	T–5th	NCAA Second Round
1992–93	Syracuse	20–9	10–8	3rd	None (NCAA Violations)
1993–94	Syracuse	23–7	13–5	2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1994–95	Syracuse	20–10	12–6	3rd	NCAA Second Round
1995–96	Syracuse	29–9	12–6	2nd (BE 7)	NCAA Runner-up
1996–97	Syracuse	19–13	9–9	T–4th (BE 7)	NIT First Round
1997–98	Syracuse	26–9	12–6	1st (BE 7)	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1998–99	Syracuse	21–12	10–8	T–4th	NCAA First Round
1999–00	Syracuse	26–6	13–3	T–1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2000–01	Syracuse	25–9	10–6	T–2nd (West)	NCAA Second Round
2001–02	Syracuse	23–13	9–7	T–3rd (West)	NIT Semifinals
2002–03	Syracuse	30–5	13–3	T–1st (West)	NCAA Champions
2003–04	Syracuse	23–8	11–5	T–3rd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2004–05	Syracuse	27–7	11–5	T–3rd	NCAA First Round
2005–06	Syracuse	23–12	7–9	T–9th	NCAA First Round
2006–07	Syracuse	24–11	10–6	5th	NIT Quarterfinals
2007–08	Syracuse	21–14	9–9	T–8th	NIT Quarterfinals
2008–09	Syracuse	28–10	11–7	6th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2009–10	Syracuse	30–5	15–3	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2010–11	Syracuse	27–8	12–6	T–3rd	NCAA Round of 32
2011–12	Syracuse	31–2	17–1	1st
Syracuse:		887–303	355–185
Total:		887–303	355–185
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Accomplishments

Some of Boeheim's notable accomplishments current as of Feburary 15, 2012

• Led Syracuse University to the 2003 NCAA national championship
• Led Syracuse University to three national championship game appearances

(1987, 1996, 2003)

• Led Syracuse University to three Final Four appearances

(1987, 1996, 2003)

• Led Syracuse University to four Elite Eight appearances

(1987, 1989, 1996, 2003)

• Led Syracuse University to 16 Sweet Sixteen appearances

(1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011)

• Led Syracuse University to 29 NCAA Tournament appearances

(1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)

• Led Syracuse University to nine Big East regular season championships

(1980, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 2000, 2003, 2010, 2012)

• Led Syracuse University to five Big East tournament championships

(1981, 1988, 1992, 2005, 2006)

• Currently ranks second among active coaches in career wins (882)
• Currently ranks third all-time in Division I wins with 882.

• Leads all Big East coaches (past and present) in wins. (329)
• Ranks sixth among active Division I coaches (min. 10 years) in winning percentage (.744)
• Currently ranks second among active coaches in career wins (882)
• In 36 seasons at Syracuse, has compiled 34 20-win seasons, good for most on the all-time list
• Became only the 14th coach ever to reach 750 wins (2007)
• Four-time Big East Coach of the Year (1984, 1991, 2000, 2010)
• USA Basketball's National Coach of the Year (2001)
• Under Boeheim, the Orange have only missed the NCAA Tournament two years in a row twice
• Basketball Hall of Fame (2005) as a coach
• Joined Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Calhoun as the third active coach with 800 wins.
• Coached the Orange to a six overtime win against the UConn Huskies, 127–117, the longest game in the history of Big East Conference play.
• Named 2010 Naismith Coach of the Year (along with the same honor from the AP, Sporting News and many others) after leading Syracuse to an unexpected 30-5 record.

In recognition of Boeheim's numerous accomplishments as SU's head coach, the University named the Carrier Dome court "Jim Boeheim Court" on February 24, 2002.

Personal life

According to an interview conducted by The Post-Standard in 2005, Boeheim enjoys watching television. He cites ER and CSI: Miami as two of his favorite TV shows, and also watches Desperate Housewives and NYPD Blue. Boeheim appeared in the movie Blue Chips, with Nick Nolte and Shaquille O'Neal, playing himself. Boeheim also appeared in the Spike Lee movie He Got Game, again playing himself. Boeheim has appeared in numerous commercials throughout Central New York, and also had a spot in a nationwide Nike Jordan ad featuring former Syracuse great Carmelo Anthony. Boeheim likes to listen to the music of Bruce Springsteen. In the interview, he states that he has no interest in pursuing any other career after he retires from coaching basketball other than coaching Little League. Boeheim fought a personal battle with cancer, which has led to his devotion to the "Coaches vs. Cancer" tournament that raises awareness of cancer. Boeheim and his wife, Juli, have three children: James, and twins Jack and Jamie. He also has a daughter, Elizabeth, from a previous marriage.

See also

• List of college men's basketball coaches with 600 wins