Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse University coronated longtime basketball coach Jim Boeheim with a postgame ceremony following the team’s nail-biting 88-85 victory against Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon in the JMA Wireless Dome.
The school presented several gifts to the coach: naming the entryway of the team’s practice facility after Boeheim, creating an endowed scholarship and revealing a jersey in the rafters of the dome with some of his career achievements.
Boeheim addressed a crowd of more than 25,000 fans, who gave the coach a standing ovation before he regaled them with vignettes of his time at Syracuse, first as a player, then as head coach for 47 seasons.
Boeheim choked up mentioning Dave Bing, crediting the Detroit guard and former teammate as the catalyst that turned around a downtrodden program. Boeheim pivoted to family — basking in son Buddy’s own basketball success was too irresistible to pass up — thanked fans’ loyalty and, naturally, wove in a playful jab at a player’s performance after the Orange squandered a 29-point lead to make for a tense finish on a joyful day.
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you for giving me a life nobody could have asked for,” Boeheim said in closing his remarks.
Emcee Mike Tirico played to the crowd by mentioning Boeheim’s 1,116 career coaching wins, a dig at the NCAA for vacating 101 wins as part of a package of penalties handed down for rules violations last decade.
The school’s Boeheim banner hanging in the rafters cites the five Final Fours, 2003 NCAA championship and 35 NCAA Tournament appearances.
The ceremony also included a video tribute to Boeheim’s career narrated by Adrian Autry, the former guard and assistant coach who succeeded Boeheim. Autry presented Boeheim a painting with the coach’s likeness on it.
Boeheim has made few appearances at Syracuse basketball games this season. He was in attendance for Bing’s Ring of Honor recognition last month in the dome.
Bing was among dozens of…
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