SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Jim Boeheim, who turned Syracuse University into a basketball powerhouse and won a national title in 2003, will not return as head coach after 47 seasons, the school announced Wednesday,
Boeheim, 78, led the program to 35 appearances in the NCAA basketball tournament and reached the Final Four five times, in 1987, 1996, 2003, 2013 and 2016, ESPN reported. He has an official coaching record of 1,015-441, second overall. Due to NCAA sanctions, 101 wins were vacated, the sports news outlet reported. That means retired Duke coach Mike Kryzyzewski holds the Division I official career record with 1,202 wins.
Syracuse announced Boeheim’s departure in a news release on Wednesday. Longtime assistant Adrian Autry will take over the program, the release stated. Autry, who was Boeheim’s associated head coach, has been on the Syracuse coaching staff since 2011.
“There is no doubt in my mind that without Jim Boeheim, Syracuse basketball would not be the powerhouse program it is today,” Syracuse Chancellor Kent Syverud said in a statement. “Jim has invested and dedicated the majority of his life to building this program, cultivating generations of student-athletes and representing his alma mater with pride and distinction. I extend my deep appreciation and gratitude to an alumnus who epitomizes what it means to be ‘Forever Orange.’”
Boeheim, a four-time Big East coach of the year, enrolled at Syracuse as a student in 1962, according to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame He played on the varsity squad from 1963 and helped the 1966 squad reach the East Region finals of the NCAA tournament, the Syracuse Post-Standard reported
Boeheim became a graduate assistant under head coach Roy Danforth in 1969 and became a full-time assistant in 1972.
He was named the program’s head coach in 1976. After his team’s loss to Wake Forest in the ACC tournament, Boeheim said but conceded that the decision was “their choice.”
“I’ve been very lucky to be able to coach my college team, to play and then be an assistant coach and then a head coach, never having to leave Syracuse,” Boeheim said after he hinted at retirement after his team’s loss to Wake Forest in the ACC tournament, the Post-Standard reported. “It’s a great university. The city has embraced our team. I am amazed that we’ve been able to draw the fans that we’ve been able to draw over the years.
”I’ve been just unbelievably fortunate to keep this job. Mike Brey is thrilled that he was at Notre Dame 23 years; he’s a puppy. I’ve had 47 years. I got to coach my sons,” Boeheim added. “Two years ago, we were in the Sweet 16. And last year, I got to coach my sons.
“I wanted to come back and coach these guys, and that’s what I was able to do. The university hasn’t offered me anything, whether to work or do anything at the university. That’s their choice.”
Boeheim was an assistant on three gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic teams, the Post-Standard reported.
Boeheim was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005.