Notre Dame has part of the ACC for over a decade now, and it has gone against some legendary coaches during that time. While Virginia’s Tony Bennett doesn’t have quite the reputation of legends like Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim or Roy Williams, he has done a great job of building his own legacy.
When the Irish visit Charlottesville on Jan. 25 this season, the Cavaliers will look very different on the sidelines because Bennett reportedly has announced his retirement effective immediately. That this is happening less than a month before the start of the season is nothing short of surprising.
The Irish have gone 3-13 against Virginia since joining the ACC, and Bennett’s tenure with the Cavailers’ predates that period. But even before that, the Irish learned how good Bennett was when he coached Washington State to a 61-41 win over them in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
Bennett retires having won one national championship, two national coach of the year awards, six ACC regular-season championships, two ACC Tournament championships and four ACC Coach of the Year awards. He has an all-time record of 433-169:
Best of luck to Bennett in whatever comes next in his life.
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Notre Dame basketball does many things but quit is not one of them.
The Notre Dame men’s basketball team must have hit snooze on their alarms Saturday as the Irish were in Syracuse for an early tip on Jim Boeheim Day in the building formerly known as the Carrier Dome.
Notre Dame went down by as many as 29 points before cutting the Syracuse lead to 20 by halftime and being in position to tie things late. However, the Orange held on to an 88-85 win to end Notre Dame’s winning streak at three.
Markus Burton continued his impressive freshman season, scoring 28 points for Notre Dame in the defeat.
Check out the best photos from the contest in Syracuse on Saturday below:
No coach in any sport at any level will say a loss was a moral victory. If one exists though, Notre Dame certainly had one against Syracuse. On a day the Orange honored legendary coach Jim Boeheim, the Irish should have been a patsy. Instead, they made the Orange earn every bit of their 88-85 victory.
This one should have been over early when the Irish (10-17, 5-11) trailed the Orange (18-10, 9-8) by 29 points late in the first half. But the Irish ended the half on a 9-0 run, culminating in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by [autotag]Julian Roper II[/autotag]. It proved to be a precursor to what was to come.
The Irish got hot from the field in the second half and cut the deficit to four with eight minutes left. The Orange built that lead back up to 10, and it looked like that was it. Except it wasn’t.
With the deficit still at nine and 2:11 to go, [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] and Roper hit back-to-back 3s to bring the Irish within three. Burton rebounded an Orange miss, and the Irish called a timeout to draw up a play that would tie the game.
A Shrewsberry 3 was short off the rim, and Chris Bell got the rebound and was fouled before hitting two free throws to put the Orange up five. [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] then made a layup, and after Quadir Copeland missed a one-and-one, Burton had one more chance to send the game to overtime but missed a long 3. That ended a valiant comeback attempt in which the Irish scored 56 second-half points.
All five Orange starters scored in double figures with Judah Mintz’s 21 points leading the way. Bell scored 18 points, including four 3-pointers, and former Irish guard JJ Starling had 14 along with Maliq Brown.
Burton had perhaps his best collegiate game with 28 points on 10-of-20 shooting along with eight assists. Shrewsberry scored all 18 of his points in the second half on six 3-pointers, and [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] had 12 points and seven rebounds.
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Hear from a team that figures to have many challenges this season.
Notre Dame is facing a challenging season with a new face and a mostly new roster. [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] fielded questions about that during the ACC Tipoff on Oct. 25 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Alongside him were [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag], a transfer who came over with Shrewsberry from Penn State, and [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag], one of the few returnees on this year’s Irish.
The 2022-23 season was JJ Starling’s first for Notre Dame and also his last. One day after it was reported that the freshman was entering the transfer portal, a decision already is known. He told ESPN that he has committed to Syracuse, a longtime conference rival for the Irish.
Geographically, the move makes sense for Starling, who is from the Syracuse suburb of Baldwinsville, New York. It is unknown how much new coach Adrian Autry played a factor, but at the very least, the Orange have a successor for Jim Boeheim. The Irish do not yet have a replacement for [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag], though they might be waiting to see when their candidates’ seasons are over.
This is a tremendous loss for the Irish, and not only because Starling would have been the top returning scorer (11.2 points a game) had he stayed in South Bend. He is the Irish’s top recruit since 2000 according to 247Sports. That they couldn’t hold onto the future NBA talent for his entire collegiate career can’t sit well with the program or its fans.
There doesn’t seem to be much ill will towards the Irish though. When asked to comment about Brey, Starling said the following:
“Coach Brey was a great coach and person. Even while going through tough times, he tried his best to make sure he was there for all of the players and continued to relay the message: ‘We only have each other.’ I wish him the best in whatever he decides to do.”
We wish Starling well, though not too well when the Orange and Irish face off next season.
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“Jim was just like he is on the basketball sidelines – he was a whiner.”
Jim Boeheim has a lengthy resume.
He’s been the head man of Syracuse basketball since 1976 and took the ‘Cuse to three national championship games. Boeheim’s teams lost in their first two appearances before riding a young Carmelo Anthony to a victory over Kansas in 2003.
However, before his career was centered around hoops, Boeheim was a member of the Syracuse golf team.
“It was fun,’’ Boeheim said in a piece at Syracuse.com. “I wasn’t that good. I was probably the fifth or sixth guy on the team. At that time, I was in the mid-to-high 70s.’’
He earned two varsity letters in 1964 and ’65, while earning a 6-6-1 record as an individual during that span.
“He was a legitimate 3-handicap,’’ said Charlie Jurgonis, who played on the team from 1962 to 1964. “By legitimate, I mean he could go play another course and play well. He could play to a 3 anywhere he went.’
“He knew he was a good putter. He knew he just had to get it on the green and he had a chance.’’
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) March 9, 2023
Ted Till, who spent one year playing with Boeheim, classified the legend as a grinder.
“He had a very good short game. He was not an exceptionally long hitter. I wasn’t either. We probably hit the ball about the same distance. He was a cerebral golfer. He had a good swing.’’
In Scott Pitoniak’s Boeheim biography titled “Color Him Orange,’’ Barry Buchsbaum said: “Jim was just like he is on the basketball sidelines – he was a whiner. The only difference was that he would be swearing at himself instead of the referees because golf is an individual sport. He’d miss a shot and start cursing at himself. He was very hard on himself. But he was a lot of fun to play with and a great teammate.’’
Not only did Boeheim play for the golf squad, he coached it. Till finished his career as a member of the Boeheim-led squad.
“Coaching golf was fun,’’ Boeheim said. “I’d send those guys out and then I’d go out the back. They’d play front and back and I’d play the back and then the front.’’
In his final year of coaching (1973), the Orange went 5-2.
On Wednesday, Syracuse announced Boeheim will not return to coach the Orange. Associate head coach Adrian Autry will be promoted to replace the 78-year-old Boeheim.
This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Robert Zeglinski.
We’re about to start March Madness in earnest, so I know there will be lots of stunning finishes ahead in the coming weeks.
But before we’re consumed by the, uh, madness, I don’t want what happened to Syracuse Men’s head coach Jim Boeheim Wednesday to get lost in the shuffle. Because not only was it perfect poetic justice for an ornery member of college basketball’s “old guard,” it was also really funny!
And I can’t overlook the comedy.
Sorry, sorry, I should say former Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim. Wow, what a sentence to write after all this time.
REPORTER: So what are you saying? You’re not saying you’re retiring …
BOEHEIM: I just said it don’t know.
REPORTER: So you don’t know?
BOEHEIM: I said this is up to the university.”
If I didn’t know any better, that sounds like the 78-year-old Boeheim is bitter he didn’t have much of a choice. That he thought he somehow deserved better after all these years leading the program?
To that, I say: Sorry, Jim. Not everyone gets to take a hollow “victory lap” like Duke’s past steward Mike Krzyzewski. And let’s be honest: As annoying (and hoo boy, was it annoying) as it was last year, you’re no Coach K in terms of resume. Not even close.
In the end, though, Boeheim probably got what he deserved.
An early February interview with ESPN saw him call the current state of college basketball an “awful place.” Boeheim clearly didn’t appreciate the advent of NIL deals for players and took his critique way too far to insinuate that ACC programs like Wake Forest just flat-out bought their teams. He would later offer a weak non-apology for what he said.
The damage was done.
I would normally make a joke about Abe Simpson yelling at a cloud, but the joke was already made for me. Instead of going on one last hopeful Cinderella run, the Demon Deacons buried Boeheim with a poetic last-second shot. Essentially, one of the teams he maintained didn’t deserve their place in college basketball, got to throw roses on the coffin of his career. Amazing.
If you weren’t a believer in karma before, Wake Forest officially ending Boeheim’s time at Syracuse should change your mind. I, for one, think it’s beautiful.
Quick Hits: NFL free agent forecast … Giannis at Duke … and more.
Legendary college basketball head coach Jim Boeheim is stepping down at Syracuse, and associate head coach Adrian Atury is set to take over as the program’s head, per a press release from the university on Wednesday. The announcement comes shortly after the Orange’s ACC Tournament run came to an end with a 77-74 loss to Wake Forest.
Boeheim’s departure ends a 47-year run for the 78-year-old head coach who originally started at the program in 1969 as an assistant before becoming the head coach in 1976.
During his 46 years with the Orange, Boeheim led the program to one NCAA Tournament title in 2003, five NCAA Final Four appearances, 10 Big East regular season championships, five Big East tournament champions, as well as one Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament title in 1977. A member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Boeheim was a unanimous coach of the year selection in 2010 and was named the Big East Coach of the Year four times.
Overall, during his career in Syracuse, Boehiem collected a career record of 1,015-440, including 432-275 in conference play. His 1,014 wins were the sixth most all-time. With his retirement, the active wins leader in Division I college basketball is West Virginia’s Bob Huggins with 926.
Outside of his run with Syracuse, he was also an assistant coach for the United States men’s national basketball team, helping coach the team to three Olympic Gold Medals, two FIBA World Championships, and one FIBA Americas Championship.
Taking over for Boeheim is associate head coach Adrian Autry, a former player of Boeheim from 1990 to 1994 before playing professionally, mostly in Europe. He began his coaching career in 2006 as an associate head coach in Virginia before coaching multiple AAU programs. In 2008, he became the director of basketball operations at Virginia Tech, where he would also become an assistant coach in 2010. Following the 2010-2011 season, Autry would return to Syracuse as an assistant before being promoted to associate head coach in 2016. Now, he’ll take over as the head coach at the legendary program.
After playing college hoops for the school, Boeheim, 78, started as an assistant at Syracuse in 1969 before assuming duties as the team’s head coach in 1976. It’s the only program he’s ever been a part of as a coach or player.
Boeheim went 1,116-440 all-time in his career leading the Orange and coached his team to a NCAA tournament victory in 2003.
The longtime Syracuse coach made five Final Four appearances in his time with the school (1987, 1996, 2003, 2013, 2016). He was named the Naismith College Coach of the Year and AP Coach of the Year in 2010.
A legendary coaching tenure that turned this program into a perennial national power comes to a close after 47 years.
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) March 8, 2023
Syracuse assistant head coach Adrian Autry will assume head coaching duties in wake of Boeheim’s retirement. Autry played for Boeheim from 1990-94.
“There have been very few stronger influential forces in my life than Syracuse University and Jim Boeheim. They have both played such important roles and without either of them, I am certain I would not have this incredible opportunity before me,” Autry said in a press release from the school. “I have spent much of my time in the game of basketball learning from Jim and am so grateful to him for preparing me to carry on the winning tradition that is Orange Basketball. It’s hard to imagine a world without him on the bench, but together with our coaches, student-athletes and fans, we will build on decades of success as a winning program.”
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that the decision for Boeheim to retire and Autry to take the helm was not decided until after Wednesday’s game.
Sources: The timing of the retirement of Jim Boeheim and Adrian Autry taking over wasn’t set until today. Autry had long been the administrative choice to be the Boeheim’s successor, but the timing was not finalized until after the Orange lost today.
What a poetic and ironic potential finish to Boeheim’s time with Syracuse.
What a WONDERFUL way to kick off March Madness!
During a second-round ACC tournament game Wednesday, Wake Forest and Syracuse’s Men’s basketball teams traded haymaker after haymaker. And in the final moments, the two squads found themselves knotted up at 74 points apiece.
After Syracuse bumbled around with the ball on their end, Wake Forest quickly charged up the court to get into position for a game-winning shot. A perfect pass would find Daivien Williamson open for three.
It’s the third month of the calendar year — a.k.a. March — so, c’mon now; you already know what happened next. Williamson drained his shot for an incredible 77-74 Wake Forest win.
There are a lot of consequences to what might be the first sweet moment of this year’s March Madness. Let’s focus on two.
The first is that Williamson’s game-winning shot saw Wake Forest cover a pregame -2.5 spread with DraftKings. A relatively even 55 percent of the handle was on Syracuse (+2.5), along with 63 percent of the money. Needless to say, a lot was riding on Williamson hitting nothing but the net.
More importantly for Syracuse fans, Williamson might have just ended longtime Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim’s career, too. Boeheim has been at the helm of the Orange since 1976 but hasn’t provided much clarity on his future lately.
The coach didn’t really provide a concrete answer in the press room after Syracuse’s season officially ended, saying he already gave his “retirement speech”, but that he hasn’t personally decided what’s next:
"I gave my retirement speech on the court last Saturday and I gave it to the press conference afterwards." – Jim Boeheim after Syracuse's 77-74 ACC Tournament loss to Wake Forest pic.twitter.com/1Bc708vsY6
“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,’” he said then. “And I’m not going to retire 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.”
Suppose Wednesday was indeed the end of Boeheim at Syracuse. This makes matters a little more poetic. In that same conversation with ESPN, Boeheim ripped the Demon Deacons, among a trio of ACC programs, for buying their team. He would later offer a weak non-apology after receiving backlash for those comments.
Just over a month later, Wake Forest may have pulled the curtains on Boeheim’s 47-year tenure on the Syracuse bench.
