When the NCAA dropped the hammer on the Syracuse men’s basketball program earlier this month there was a lot to take in. The headliners are that coach Jim Boeheim will be suspended for the first nine ACC games of the 2015-16 season and that the basketball program will lose 12 scholarships over four years. In addition the school will be put on probation for a period of five years from March 2015 to March 2020. There will also be a bunch of wins vacated by the team, 108 in total, but in truth people tend to look more toward the punishments which will occur as opposed to those punishments which are retroactive.
As if that bombshell wasn’t enough, this story was then expanded upon with the news that Boeheim is to retire in three years time. Boeheim, who has been the coach of his alma mata since 1976, has since called the penalties which were put in place for ten years of compliance violations “unduly harsh” and via multiple reports the school is going to appeal them. This appeal is not expected to clear the name of the school, rather to have the penalties lessened as seems to be the style with the NCAA when any penalty is challenged.
The question then becomes what is next for Syracuse basketball? Why did Boeheim decide on the seemingly random number of three years before he will retire? Will the program be able to compete against the higher ups in the ACC during that time span or should Boeheim have just got out now and let someone else pick up this reclamation job?
Boeheim has been steadfast in his defense of the program and of his knowledge of any improprieties.
“Although the infractions report does not find that I had personal involvement in any violations of NCAA rules, the Committee on Infractions has asserted that for the past 10 years, I did not promote an atmosphere of compliance within the men’s basketball program, and I did not monitor the activities regarding compliance of those within the program,” Boeheim said, reading from a prepared statement.
“This could not be further from the truth. This is far from a program where student-athletes freely committed academic fraud. I believe the penalty is unduly harsh.”
What was also said, and what has been a little under the radar, is that Boeheim had a meeting to discuss his three year plan with the university chancellor, but that the situation will also be taken year by year. That means the 70 year old Boeheim is essentially coaching for his job from this point forward as both sides have an easy out is no progress is being made.
The biggest issue which Syracuse and Boeheim now face is on retention and recruiting. Syracuse lucked out in some ways by avoiding a long post season ban which would have truly crippled the program as no recruits want to go to a school which cannot make the NCAA Tournament. Even so the loss of scholarships, and the general cloud hanging over the program, will combine to make it tough for Boeheim to bring in the recruits he wants in today’s highly competitive recruiting world.
Indeed the fallout has already begun.
Multiple sources confirmed on Thursday that a pair of sophomores, B.J. Johnson and Ron Patterson, are looking to leave the program. The pair may have only combined for 6.8 points per game this season, but underclassmen transferring out and leaving holes in a class is never a good sign. Though neither player has specifically cited the uncertainty in the program as their reason for leaving, the timing of the decisions is interesting to say the least.
Perhaps the most interesting quote within the story is this one from Boeheim.
“I’ll take the punishment. Today what’s important is to handle what I have to do here. I am 70 years old. It’s obvious there’s a time frame for me as head coach. I feel that three years is right for me. Three years is probably longer than I was planning.”
Boeheim clearly wants some time to put this right. He does not want his last act as the Syracuse head coach to be walking away from his program when it faced a difficult period. In addition the expectation is that Boeheim will use this time to groom his replacement, likely to be long time assistant Mike Hopkins, so that when he leaves the transition will be seamless. This is vitally important from a recruiting standpoint because the players coming in need to know there is some stability within the madness and they they are not signing up for a school which is going to change its philosophy some time in the next three years.
The situation may look bleak for Syracuse fans right now, but this three year plan does have a degree of feasibility to it. If the three years can be used to groom a successor, keep the right recruits coming in, and to stabilize the image of the program, the Syracuse basketball may not be taking the giant step back that it;s alumni and fans fear.