Boeheim the sage on stage
Having been Syracuse’s head coach since 1976, Jim Boeheim has seen plenty in college basketball. At a news conference Thursday, he spun a few yarns and opined about the game.
He shared a story about making $25,000 in his first season as a head coach. He said he told legendary St. John’s coach Lou Carnesecca his salary at a Big East meeting, “and he ran out of the room because he was making 20. He was like, Holy cow, he’s making 25?”
Boeheim reportedly earned $1.9 million this season, 76 times that initial salary.
He said that when he was took the job at Syracuse at the age of 31, he negotiated a four-year contract over the three-year deal he was offered by threatening to go to the University of Rochester. His goal was just to make it to five seasons.
“Then after that, I was hoping to make it to 10,” said Boeheim, now in his 37th season at Syracuse.
Boeheim said one of the bigger differences in the game between now and 10 years ago — the last time Syracuse was at the Final Four — is the depth of quality players.
“You know, there’s really not that much difference between the so-called top 40 and the next 40 and the next 40,” he said.
Of course, it’s easy for Boeheim to say — his roster includes guard Michael Carter-Williams (ranked No. 21 in his class by ESPN) and centers Rakeem Christmas (No. 20) and DaJuan Coleman (No. 14).
Boeheim also lobbied for a rules change that would permit high school players to go directly to the NBA, but require them to stay two years if they elect to go to college.
“It’d be better for the kids, it’d be better for the colleges, it’d be better for the pros,” he said. “It’d be better for everybody, but I don’t think we’ll ever get there.”
Backing the Orange: One of Syracuse's bigger fans this weekend is an clothing-store sales clerk in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Blake Mounts leads all 8.15 million entrants in ESPN's bracket contest. Mounts, who picked Florida Gulf Coast to go to the Sweet 16 and also called Harvard's upset of New Mexico, picked three of the four Final Four teams — Syracuse, Louisville and Michigan. He has the Orange beating the Cardinals in the final.
Mounts, 24, said he has won only one pool previously, for about $80. In ESPN’s contest, the top 1 percent of the entrants will be entered into a pool, with the randomly selected winner awarded a $10,000 Best Buy gift card.
“I can’t say I’m a genius or anything like that,” he said. “There’s a lot of luck in that.”
While Mounts credits the knowledge accumulated from watching a lot of basketball this season, the Syracuse pick was from the heart.
“I love Jim Boeheim and the ’Cuse,” he said.
Etc.: Former Syracuse stars Derrick Coleman and Billy Owens are expected to be at the Georgia Dome supporting the Orange. … Boeheim is 3-0 in national semifinals games, with wins over Providence (1987), Mississippi State (1996) and Texas (2003). … He is also the fourth coach to lead a team to a Final Four in four different decades, joining Mike Krzyzewski, Dean Smith and Rick Pitino.
About the Author
Ken Sugiura is a sports columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Formerly the Georgia Tech beat reporter, Sugiura started at the AJC in 1998 and has covered a variety of beats, mostly within sports.
