For decades, Rick Pitino enjoyed a laugh as he told the old story about his old boss and later coaching rival Jim Boeheim.
Back in the mid-1970s, when young Pitino was an assistant in Syracuse for the still young Beheim, they went on a beach vacation with their wives. Somehow an argument ensued. If you could live anywhere in the world, which would you choose?
Miami? Maui? Madrid?
Rick settled in San Francisco. Joanne Pitino went with New York. Elaine Boheim, Jim’s first wife, Paris said. Or maybe it was the Caribbean. No one remembers the exact answers of everyone but Jim.
“Syracuse,” Boheim said.
The group roared. Wait, are you serious?
“Hawaii is just Syracuse in July,” Boheim countered, somewhat shocked that anyone would question his thoughts.
“Well, a real story for the most part,” Boheim said years later when asked about the legendary story. “Rick doesn’t get it right. But, yes, I said Syracuse. They all left. Literally. They just walked along the beach and said, “What’s wrong with him?” ”
In the history of college athletics, there can be no connection between a school, let alone a city, and an individual, as between Jim Boeheim and Syracuse, a private college often found in a snowy, no-nonsense, downtown area. New York city of the same name.
Boheim arrived in 1962 as a freshman from Lyon, about an hour west. He eventually became the star of the varsity team and then worked as an assistant coach before becoming head coach in 1976, about 47 seasons ago.
On Wednesday, the 78-year-old finally played his 1,557th and final game, all of them still with Syracuse. It was a first-round ACC loss to Wake Forest in a somewhat disappointing 17-15 season that would not include an NCAA Tournament bid.
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A couple of hours later, the university announced that former player Adrian Autry would take over the duties of former player Adrian Autry, which should not overshadow a truly legendary career.
It’s a 60-year relationship with the same school, interrupted only by a six-year stint when Boheim played for the Scranton Miners in the old Eastern PBA. He still spent the offseason with Syracuse.
Why not?
“It’s a really great place,” Boheim said. “Winters are harsh, but it’s basketball season. Then on April 1, when I start thinking about life, [that’s] when the great months begin.”
What is beyond question is Boheim’s genius in turning Syracuse into a powerhouse. He led the Oranges to 35 NCAA Tournaments, five Final Fours, and a 2003 national championship behind star freshman Carmelo Anthony.
Boeheim’s legacy goes beyond numbers
Boheim is a short-tempered figure who is often visibly distressed by what he perceives as the incompetence of those around him – usually judges and reporters. He never shied away from a fight, a feud, an argument, or the opportunity to utter some stinging quote. He never tried to please. He never changed. He was Syracuse.
He won 1,116 games, at least, aside from the fact that the NCAA voided 101 of those wins as punishment for various rule messes… and there always seemed to be a mess with Boheim. That was also part of the fun.
The program had a cult following, Syracuse’s equipment carried the length and breadth of the East Coast, and Boheim drew stars from across the country. Louis Orr. Pearl Washington. Sherm Douglas. Billy Owens. Roni Seikaly. Derrick Coleman. Lawrence Moten. Hakim Warrick. Carmelo Anthony.
Beheim was an unusual player coach, as clumsy as his guys were smooth. He has been known to keep his rotation small because, according to him, after playing back a lot in a series of breakout games, star Billy Owens sidelined him.
“Coach,” Owens said. “I didn’t come here to play 30 minutes.”
“I learned about good players a long time ago,” Boheim said. “They want to be in the game.”
It worked over the years as more and more talent came through the place. This allowed Syracuse to challenge everyone, from the harsh days of the legendary Big East to the modern ACC spirit of “champion or lose”. He had rivalries of varying degrees of hostility with everyone from John Thompson at Georgetown and Lou Carnesecchi at St. John’s to Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and North Carolina’s Roy Williams.
All this time, year after year, he remained in Syracuse, content with trying to win where victory was by no means guaranteed or easy.
Syracuse life
Larger public schools with bigger budgets, located in larger recruiting districts, often tried to hire him only to find that Boheim was unwilling to even answer their call. Even feigning interest would have resulted in richer Syracuse contracts, but Boheim refused to play along.
“That’s why I’m one of the lowest paid coaches in USA Today,” Boheim once said of the annual salary list. “If you don’t play this card, you won’t get paid.”
Well, he was still making millions, but he was also raising nearly as much for various charities, most notably Coaches Against Cancer.
In 1986, then-Ohio State Athletic Director Rick Bay flew to Syracuse and nearly forced a meeting with Boheim about coaching with the Buckeyes. Bay arrived with what he thought was a winning sales pitch and a huge promotion.
“It lasted 20 minutes,” Boheim said. “It was not something against the state of Ohio. He just wasn’t in Syracuse, New York.”
And really, that’s all it’s ever been about. The child shows up at school and never wants to leave, never wants to let down his favorite place.
Whenever he needed motivation to keep working, to keep recruiting, he thought of 30,000 fans who would endure a cold snowy night to literally climb up the hill to the Carrier Dome, where the stands and court occupied half the football field.
“The city has accepted our team,” Boheim said on Wednesday. “I was amazed that we were able to attract the fans that we were able to attract.”
The house was a home. They knew it. He knew it. And they knew that he knew it and appreciated it. The more fans around the country hated him or couldn’t understand him, the more they loved him.
“You can fish for trout a mile and a half from my house,” Boheim said. “I can play golf [at his Onondaga Country Club] within five minutes. I can be at the office in seven minutes. I can go to any restaurant in the city in less than 10 minutes.
“And I like it. I like this kind of life.”
Syracuse life.
“I’ve just been lucky to coach at Syracuse,” Boheim said Wednesday. “A place that I love. The place where I love to live. People keep wondering about it. Maybe it’s my fault, but I’ve lived all my life in Syracuse and [I’ll] We’ll be there, hopefully for a long time.”
Coaching is over. Games, victories and the rhythm of the season will go with him. He will remain there as an icon, since it is almost impossible to separate a person from a school and a place. It is a relationship as enduring and unique as college athletics has ever known.
Just the way Jim Boheim always wanted.
“That’s exactly what I meant about Syracuse,” he said years ago when discussing a mid-70s vacation with Pitino. “They laughed, but I’m serious… Until now.”
Always will be.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
