Boeheim Reflects on NCAA Record
2/27/2009 12:16:40 PM | Men's Basketball
Orange head men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim set the NCAA record for 20-win seasons with SU's victory at St. John's. He began coaching at his alma mater in 1976, leading the Orange to a 26-4 record. In his 33rd year as head coach, he has an overall mark of 791-286 (.734), including a 20-8 record this season. Boeheim reflected on this record and his coaching career on Orange All Access.
“Jimmy was a good player and a smart player when he played at Syracuse and then I think that just carried over into the way that his teams play,” said ESPN's Bobby Knight. “From a basketball standpoint he probably over the years has played the zone defense perhaps better and coached it perhaps better than anyone in basketball ever has. It has been a very prominent part of the success he's had.”
In 1962, Boeheim made the Syracuse team as a walk-on and as a senior he served as a co-captain of the squad. A member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, he received the 2005-06 Wooden Legends of Coaching award. He also served as the assistant head coach tfor the 2008 USA Men's Basketball Senior National team in the Beijing Olympics.
“When I started coaching I wanted to be consistent. I wanted to have a consistent program, a consistent team year in and year out, and I think that's what the record is all about,” Boeheim said.
Boeheim and the Orange return to action on Sunday, March 1 against Cincinnati at 2:00 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. For more exclusive Orange All Access content, subscribe today.
