Jim Boeheim addresses future at Syracuse, avoids straight answer on retirement

Long-time Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim has one of the most impressive resumes in college basketball today, but his future is now uncertain after a series of cryptic responses following an ACC Tournament loss.

Boeheim went as far as to tell reporters that he already made his retirement speech, but only one person caught on. Although given his track record of back-and-forth with the media, whether he meant it is up for debate.

“I think you missed it,” said Boeheim. “I gave my retirement speech on the court last Saturday, and I gave it in the press conference afterwards. And nobody except William Payne figured it out.”

At 78-years old, Boeheim has heard rumors about his future many times before, even allowing Mike Hopkins to serve as the “head coach in waiting” before he ultimately left for the job at Washington.

However, this season the rumors came to a boiling point given the Orange’s struggles, paired with the results of recent seasons. Although he declared the decision to continue was his to make during a controversial interview, his most recent message is much different.

“This is up to the university,” said Boeheim, before being asked if he wanted to return.

“I didn’t say that,” he replied.

Boeheim then repeated that the decision is up to the school, telling a reporter she was “talking to the wrong guy” about his future.

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Jim Boeheim previously said he would “probably” return to Syracuse for the 2023-2024 season and a 48th year with the Orange. The national championship-winning head coach told fans he would step away from college basketball on his own terms.

“I have no other plans,” Boeheim said in a story with ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “Listen, this has been the question of the day for 15 years. This isn’t a new question. It’s just the calendar going, ‘Well, he’s 78.’ It’s just the calendar. If it wasn’t the calendar, if I was 65, no one would be saying anything.

“And I’m not going to retire just because it’s the calendar. Anything can happen. Anything, literally. We’ll just see what happens. I don’t say anything because I don’t know.”

In total, Boeheim has over 1,000 wins, five Final Four appearances, and 16 different conference championships across multiple leagues while coaching Syracuse. He is also a College Basketball Hall of Famer and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, as well as a three-time Olympic gold medalist.