Jim Boeheim has been infamous for multiple iconic news conferences, and he might have saved his best for last, or maybe it wasn’t his last.
Syracuse lost to Wake Forest in the second round of the ACC men’s basketball tournament Wednesday after Daivien Williamson hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left to put the Demon Deacons up 77-74.
The loss concluded Boeheim’s 47th season with the Orange. The head coach had planned to retire in 2018, but when his son, Buddy Boeheim, enrolled at Syracuse, he continued his role on the sideline. But the question was brought up to the 78-year-old coach again after Wednesday’s loss, and Jim Boeheim was oddly noncommittal.
“I’ve been lucky to coach this long,” Boeheim told reporters, per video from The Field of 68. “I think you missed it. I gave my retirement speech on the court last Saturday, and I gave it in the press conference afterwards. And nobody (picked up on it), until (campus director) William Payne figured it out.”
“Are you saying you’re going to retire?” Syracuse.com’s Donna Ditota asked.
“This is up to the university,” Boeheim said.
“You want to come back?” Ditota asked.
“I didn’t say that,” Boeheim said.
“So what are you saying?” Ditota said.
“I just said it,” Boeheim replied. “I don’t know.”
“So you don’t know?” Ditota asked again for clarification.
“I said this is up to the university,” Boeheim said.
“How will you make a determination about when you will come back?” Ditota said.
“You’re talking to the wrong guy,” Boeheim said.
If you were confused about that exchange, don’t worry, you weren’t the only one. It appeared the Syracuse head coach said he retired but also didn’t want to confirm until the university did.
But if the university wants him back, would he return? That wasn’t made entirely clear.
The Orange have declined in the past 10 years. They’ve only made the Final Four once since moving from the Big East to the ACC, and this will be the second-straight season Syracuse has not made the NCAA tournament.
