Former Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim finalizing deal to join ESPN, per report

Former longtime Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim is expected to join ESPN for the 2023-24 college basketball season, sources tell College Hoops Today. His role will include working games and in the studio, per the report.

Boeheim retired from coaching at the end of last season after spending 47 years as the head coach of the Orange. He led Syracuse to five Final Four appearances and one national championship during that period.

He also has 10 regular season Big East championships, five Big East tournament championships, and countless NCAA Tournament appearances under his belt, not to mention being named the 2010 Big East and national coach of the year and his over 1,000 career wins

Per the report, Boeheim is also expected to join Westwood One as a radio analyst for this season’s March Madness and potentially during conference championship week.

The 2023-24 college basketball season is set to get underway on Monday, Nov. 6. His assignment for the evening has yet to be revealed. 21 ranked teams will be in action throughout opening night, including preseason No. 1 Kansas.

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After Syracuse lost to Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament on Wednesday afternoon, Boeheim was his vintage cagey self with reporters. He was non-committal about retiring, even as he said that he gave his retirement speech a week prior, when Wake Forest came to the Dome — and when Syracuse honored the 2003 national championship team that Boeheim coached.

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

After playing at Syracuse from 1962-66, Boeheim later joined the coaching staff under Roy Danforth in 1969. In 1976, he succeeded Danforth as the head coach and has been there ever since. The 2022-23 season was his 47th as the Syracuse head coach.

Boeheim accomplished about all there is to do as a college basketball head coach. He won a national championship in 2003 with Carmelo Anthony and now assistant coach Gerry McNamara, among others. 

Beyond the college ranks, Boeheim was a three-time Olympic gold medalist as an assistant coach for former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. He’s a Basketball Hall of Famer and left an indelible mark on a program, a school, a league, and the sport of college basketball.

On3’s Andrew Graham contributed to this report.