Boeheim Rebuts NCAA Findings During Hour-long News Conference

 

Story by Joshua Carney

Photo by Jiayang Zhange

Syracuse, N.Y. -- In front of more than 60 members of the local media, and a national audience on ESPN, Syracuse men’s basketball head coach Jim Boeheim lashed out at the NCAA during a news conference, at the Carrier Dome, Thursday. It was his first news conference since the NCAA handed down penalties to the University just under two weeks ago.

For more than an hour Boeheim read a statement on the rulings and answered questions about his planned retirement three years from now and much more.

No chance to rebut

 

Found to be in violation of the NCAA’s head coaching bylaws by failing to promote an environment of compliance within the program, as well as cases of academic fraud and drug policy violations, Boeheim said that he is frustrated that he wasn’t given the opportunity to rebut the findings.

“I believe that a head coach should have the opportunity to rebut the presumption of responsibility stated in the head coach responsibility bylaw by demonstrating that he promoted an atmosphere of compliance within the program and that he monitored the activities regarding compliance of those within the program,” Boeheim said. “The head coach responsibility bylaw was not and was never intended to be strict liability. In our case, however, the committee imposed penalties on me personally without giving credence to my efforts to promote compliance within the men’s basketball program, which is contrary to the head coach responsibility bylaw.”

 

Boeheim added that when the University first was notified of the alleged violations in 2011, he was not charged with a violation. However, it wasn’t until the second notification of alleged violations that Boeheim was charged with the violation of head coaching bylaws. Despite the original alleged violations against the University remaining the same, the 70-year-old coach was hit with a new charge without getting the opportunity to state his case.

 

“At that time that I even offered to make myself available to NCAA enforcement staff for an interview to discuss the atmosphere of compliance within the men’s basketball program, something the NCAA enforcement staff did not specifically ask me about in my prior interviews,” Boeheim said. “But the enforcement staff declined to listen to the additional information that I had…I believe that my effort to promote an atmosphere of compliance with the men’s basketball program was disregarded by the enforcement staff and the committee on infractions. That ultimately led to my suspension for the first nine ACC games of the 2015-16 season.”

He will appeal suspension

Confirming Chancellor Kent Syverud’s statement that the University will appeal the NCAA’s penalties, Boeheim said that he felt the NCAA is punishing current and future Syracuse University athletes – including himself – in an unduly harsh manner.

 

“I fully accept as head coach of the men’s basketball program that I am responsible for the conduct of everyone within our program,” Boeheim said. “And I deeply regret that any violations occurred within our program because one violation is one too many. However, given the circumstance, I believe that the penalty imposed on the university as a whole and me individually are unduly harsh. I believe that the NCAA is punishing current and future student-athletes for the conduct of a few individuals who are no longer associated in any way with Syracuse University. For these reasons, I am choosing to appeal the NCAA committee on infractions’ decision. I believe in what we are doing at Syracuse University and I will continue to build on the great program that we have established.”

After finishing his 17-minute statement to open the news conference, Boeheim addressed the report that he will retire from the position of head men’s basketball coach in three years. He did hint at the thought that he could have stepped down after the 2012 Final Four, but he said he didn’t feel that the program was in a good place at the time because of the ongoing NCAA investigation. In fact, Boeheim stated that if he didn’t feel he was effective as a coach after next season he would step away.

Now that the penalties have officially been handed down, Boeheim said that he wants to make sure the program is in a good place – which he feels it will be when it’s time for him to step down – before walking away from a school that he’s been a part of for 53 years.

 

“It’s obvious that there is a timeframe for me as the head basketball coach,” Boeheim said. “As the Chancellor indicated in his statement yesterday, I feel three years is right for me to be able to continue to do my job as well as I possibly can. The completion of the investigation actually clarified for me in my own mind my plans for the future and my decision to establish that timeline with Chancellor Syverud. Three years is probably longer than I was planning prior to this investigation. However, given all of these developments, it is the right time in the program.”

 

With regard to questions about his legacy as one of the winningest coaches in college basketball history, Boeheim said that he doesn’t care about the vacated wins as much as he does about the loss of scholarships and suspension. Having already proved time and time again how good of a coach he is, Boeheim – in his 39^th year at the helm of Syracuse basketball – said that at the end of the day he doesn’t care about wins and losses.

 

“When the final time comes, is it really important how many games you’ve won or lost?”