Jim Boeheim

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Jim Boeheim.
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Jim Boeheim.

James Arthur "Jim" Boeheim (pronounced BAY-heim), born November 17, 1944 in Lyons, New York, is the men's basketball head coach for Syracuse University. Boeheim’s twenty-ninth season as Syracuse University’s men’s basketball head coach earned him his 700th victory during his tenure there, leaving him with a 726-252 overall win-loss record. Among those thirty seasons include twenty-eight 20-win seasons that put him in second-place on the all-time Division I list. In addition, as of 2005, Boeheim is eighth in Division I NCAA tournament wins with forty-one (CBS Sportsline). He became only the eighteenth coach in Division I history to reach the career 700-win milestone (SU Athletics).

On Monday, April 4, 2005 it was announced that Boeheim would be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Boeheim was later inducted in September 2005. Boeheim has guided the Syracuse Orange to three NCAA championship game appearances. The Orange defeated Kansas in 2003 for the national title after losing to Indiana in 1987 and Kentucky in 1996.

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[edit] Career

Boeheim enrolled in Syracuse University as a student in 1962 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in social science in 1966 (SU Athletics). 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-America Dave Bing. 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 Scranton of the Eastern 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.

In 1969, Boeheim decided to coach basketball and was hired as a graduate assistant at Syracuse. 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, Boeheim was promoted to be the head coach of his alma mater, thus making him one of the rare individuals to spend his entire college basketball career (player, assistant coach, and head coach) at only one school. In his twenty-nine years as head coach at Syracuse, Boeheim has guided the Orange to postseason births, either in the NCAA or NIT tournaments, in all but one of his seasons (SU Athletics). During his tenure, the Orange has appeared in three NCAA national championship games (1987, 1996, and 2003) and won the national title in 2003.

After his twenty-ninth season, Boeheim ranked fifth among active Division I coaches in winning percentage and tied for sixth in victories (SU Athletics). 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 (SU Athletics).

Boeheim has also been named three-time Big East coach of the year, and has been awarded ten times as District II Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. 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.

In 2001, during his seventh year as a USA basketball coach, Boeheim helped lead the USA Basketball 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.

On May 9, 2005 Boeheim agreed on a four-year contract extension to remain as Syracuse’s head men’s basketball coach. Boeheim has been the head men’s basketball coach since 1976 and had two years remaining on his contract before signing the four-year extension (CBS Sportsline).

In an exhibition game on November 7, 2005 against Division II school, The College of 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's coaching style 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. [1]

[edit] Personal

According to an interview conducted by The Post-Standard in 2005 (Post-Standard), 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 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 Leagues. Boeheim fought a personal battle with cancer, which has resulted in his devotion to the “Coaches vs. Cancer” tournament that raises awareness of cancer (SU Athletics). Boeheim is married to his wife Juli, twenty-two years his junior, and have four children: Elizabeth, James, and twins Jack and Jamie (SU Athletics).

[edit] Accomplishments

Some of Boeheim’s notable accomplishments current as of March 11, 2006:

  • Led Syracuse University to the 2003 NCAA national championship
  • Led Syracuse University to 11 Sweet Sixteen appearances, four Elite Eight appearances, and three Final Four berths including three trips to the championship game (1987, 1996, 2003), and 24 total NCAA tournament appearances (Washingtonspeakers)
  • Led Syracuse University to eight Big East regular season titles and five Big East tournament titles (1981, 1988, 1992, 2005, 2006)
  • Three-time Big East Coach of the Year (1984, 1991, 2000)
  • In 29 seasons at Syracuse, has compiled 28 20-win seasons, good for fourth on the all-time list
  • Currently ranks sixth among active coaches in career wins
  • USA Basketball's National Coach of the Year (2001)
  • Coaching Hall of fame

[edit] Famous players coached by Boeheim


Preceded by
Roy Danforth		 Syracuse Men's Basketball Head Coach
1976–present		 Succeeded by
incumbent

[edit] References

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