College basketball experts weigh in: Did Jim Boeheim get a raw deal? ‘It was unfitting’
Syracuse, N.Y. — The murky circumstances surrounding Jim Boeheim’s departure as Syracuse University men’s basketball coach after the team was bounced from the ACC tournament on Wednesday raises questions as to whether the Orange legend could have been pushed out the door with a little more grace and a softer touch.
Syracuse.com sought opinions from college basketball experts and analysts on the subject. Here’s what they had to say.
Jay Bilas, ESPN
Dalen Cuff, ESPN
“I don’t think anybody wins. I don’t think coach gets the flowers he deserves, gets the recognition he deserves, gets the time to thank everybody that he deserves. And I’m not sure the school handled it well in terms of whatever conversations went on from Saturday to yesterday, however they arrived at that point. It’s an emotional game. Coach is an emotional person. He just loses by three and then he’s in there saying stuff. It got out there that he was no longer the coach and then they replaced him with Red Autry. It just doesn’t seem like it was all well-managed by anybody.”
“In the end, it should have been 100 percent his decision. If he thought he could put together one more good season next winter, then he should have been allowed to keep coaching. There’s no doubt that ‘Syracuse people’ were ready to move on, that they thought “it was time. Alumni and boosters always think that. Fifty-eight years at one school, all those wins and all that money he made for Syracuse, should have meant one thing: He owed the school absolutely nothing. It owed him. Most of all, it owed him the chance to coach for as long as he wanted.”
“That’s something between Jim and the administration. The only thing I would say is that is, I don’t know what the fuss is being made. He said he retired (last) weekend. If he retired on the weekend, then what is all the fuss? Here’s the thing. It’s sad to me that he’s had this amazing career … and unfortunately, down the stretch, it became more difficult. Let’s leave it at that. The most important thing right now is moving forward. It’s sad that he didn’t get a chance to retire gracefully. But I wouldn’t point the finger at the administration. He should be celebrated and he should be celebrating. Obviously, the manner is happened yesterday he didn’t allow himself to do that.”
“It was unfitting, to me, for Jim Boeheim to go out like this. There’s too much left to the imagination, that need not have happened, in my opinion, for a guy who did what he did, accomplished what he did. Especially considering Jim’s comments last week, where he had no plans on retiring. And then all of a sudden this happens yesterday. It definitely was not smooth, for sure.”
