The Schtick Is Up: Jim Boeheim Pulls A Nick Saban, Calls Out Numerous Teams For Buying Players, Then Recants
It's certainly not hard to see what's going on with Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim. The new era of college basketball is passing him by in regards to NIL and he's having a hard time adapting.
This was the case on Saturday night, when Boeheim decided to air his grievances about Name, Image and Likeness by calling out his colleagues. Yes, this feels like the same sentiment Alabama's Nick Saban shared last year when calling out Texas A&M for buying the 2022 recruiting class.
During an interview with Pete Thamel, Jim Boeheim decided to call-out Miami, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest for using NIL, saying each team was bought.
"This is an awful place we're in in college basketball," Boeheim said. "Pittsburgh bought a team. OK, fine. My talks about it, but he doesn't give anyone any money. Nothing. Not one guy. Our guys make like $20,000. Wake Forest bought a team. Miami bought a team. ... It's like, 'Really, this is where we are?' That's really where we are, and it's only going to get worse."
Boeheim also decided to include Jay Wright and Mike Krzyzewski while discussing NIL, saying it was one of the reasons both coaches got out of the business. Ok, even though they might have told him that, surely that's not a reason to try and add evidence to your case. The simple fact is, Boeheim is at a point in his career where the college basketball world is passing him by.
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - JANUARY 24: Head Coach Jim Boeheim of the Syracuse Orange reacts during the second half against the North Carolina Tar Heels at JMA Wireless Dome on January 24, 2023 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images)
Jim Boeheim Has Coached Syracuse His 1976
Are we really going to act like none of his former players were paid? The problem with some coaches nowadays is that everything is out in the open. He specifically talked about his biggest booster not being involved in NIL right now, claiming that his guys only make $20,000 a year. In reality, I have a hard time believing that Syracuse basketball players are struggling.
The words from Boeheim reached Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes, who said this was "one thousand percent wrong." Forbes said that he's never had a player sign with him because of NIL.
So what Boeheim has done is make himself look petty, while trying to involve other schools into his own problems. If Miami is using NIL to its advantage, there's nothing Jim can do about it. It's legal now, which is freaking a lot of coaches out. But, just because you're having a hard time accepting the new era doesn't mean it's someone else's fault.
Jim Boeheim Says He 'Misspoke' About Pitt, Wake Forest
At 4:27 Sunday morning, Pete Thamel put out a tweet saying Jim Boeheim told him he 'absolutely misspoke' about the Wake Forest and Pittsburgh programs. Furthermore, the Syracuse head coach said that "he shouldn't have included Wake and Pitt in his statement".
Sorry, not buying it. I imagine Boeheim felt the backlash from his colleagues in the ACC, along with the public relations team at Syracuse. For someone who is known to not hold back, there must've been a ton of heat on him during those seven hours in which the story was up.
Boeheim is 78-years-old and told Thamel that he will 'probably' be back next season to coach the Orange. But, this has become a situation where Jim Boeheim should most likely keep his thoughts to himself if he's going to stick around. You cannot honestly sit there and say you aren't in the NIL game, when reports like this come out.
I don't particularly care that Boeheim said he misspoke. During that interview, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest were clearly on his mind when it came to NIL, so walking it back now does no good. In the case of Miami, booster John Ruiz isn't afraid to use his money to attract athletes, which is the world we live in now.
The most obvious resolution is to get his biggest booster to take NIL seriously, if he's not already doing so. But, if Boeheim continues to go down this path of complaining and calling out other schools, a booster is not going to save his last few years of coaching.
Adapt or change. And if Boeheim doesn't want to play the game, maybe it's time to call it a career.