Syracuse, New York – Jim Boheim has revealed that Syracuse has a plan for his eventual retirement and who will succeed him as basketball coach.
The topic of Boheim’s retirement reappeared after the loss of Syracuse to Duke 97-79 on Saturday, which turned out to be the last match for Mike Krzyzewski, the retired coach of Duke, who is also a close friend of Boheim.
On Wednesday, Boheim surprised Brent Ax, host of “On the Block” on ESPN Radio Syracuse, by calling at the beginning of the Ax show.
As he did on Saturday, Boheim said he would return as coach of the Oranges in the 2022-23 season.
Boheim, 77, in his 46th season as head coach, said he had told each of Syracuse’s five high school recruits in the 2022 recruiting class that he would be in Syracuse to coach them. next season. Boheim said his thoughts on coaching have not changed, even when Syracuse are battling to a 15-15 record this season.
“I think if I say I’m giving up now that I’ve given my word to these players, it will look like, ‘Oh, they had a bad year, so he’s just going to give up,'” Boheim said. “It simply came to our notice then. Maybe not to you. Maybe not someone else’s. But I would see that. “He has given his word to these players, he is healthy, he feels great, but they are having a bad year, so he will just give up.”
But then Boheim revealed the big news: that he has a plan for when he will retire as coach of Syracuse and how the succession will take place.
“I will not tell you or anyone when this will happen, (but) we have a plan in place,” Boheim said. “Good plan. Plan with iron. This is not my decision. I don’t name the coach, as people say all the time. I have not contributed to any (athletic director) who has ever been hired here, nor any AD associate who has ever been hired here, not even AD who watches basketball. I have never contributed to this. None.
“And that’s good. I’m not the athletic director. I am not the chancellor.
“But we have a plan,” he said. “Obviously we won’t let him go, because we don’t want everyone we are recruiting against to know what we’re going to do.”
When he was pressed, Boheim allowed himself to make some contribution to the process.
“I’m not saying I won’t say anything,” he said, “but it’s not 100 percent my decision and it should be.”
Ax asked Boheim if that meant he knew when he would retire.
“Yes,” Boheim said. “We have a plan. Yes.”
Did Boheim know when or how he would announce his decision? “I do not have a word about it. It depends on the school. “
Krzyzewski announced his decision to retire last summer. This allowed him to keep his word to Duke’s recruits. This also allowed Duke to name his successor, former Duke player and current assistant John Shyer.
“Everyone mentions Mike Krzyzewski,” Boheim said. “I know 100 coaches who have retired, 99 of them have retired after the season. Mike Krzyzewski is the only coach I know who retired before the season and was a coach. This is very unusual. It worked well for Duke. Duke is a little different from Syracuse, but it works well for Duke.
“But we have a plan.”
Boheim will not say whether the plan includes the choice of his successor.
“There is a plan,” he said. “I’m just telling you there is a plan.”
Boheim said the plan has been in place for some time. That’s why I said from the beginning (of the season) that I will train next year. “
Boheim said his mission was to pass on a successful, solid-based program to Syracuse’s next head coach.
“At the end of the day, I can promise you that I am trying to leave this program in the best position it can be when I leave,” he said. “I think we can do it.”
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