SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WAVY/AP) – After a career that spanned nearly five decades, Jim Boeheim’s time as Syracuse’s men’s basketball coach has come to an inauspicious end.
The school announced about three hours after Syracuse’s ACC tournament loss to Wake Forest – likely ending the season without an NCAA tournament berth at 17-15 – that Adrian Autry, a former Boeheim player and a former assistant at Virginia Tech, would succeed the legend as head coach.
The university said, in part, that “today, as his 47th season coaching his alma mater comes to an end, so too does his storied career at Syracuse University. Associate head coach Adrian Autry, one of Boeheim’s former players and longtime assistant, has been named the program’s next head coach.”
Boeheim, who arrived to the Syracuse campus nearly 60 years ago as an undergraduate and basketball walk-on, is a Hall of Fame coach and one of college basketball’s winningest head coaches. But he didn’t let on after his last loss for Syracuse that his time was at an end.
“It’s up to the university,” Boeheim said. “They have to make their decision, and it’s up to them.”
The 78-year-old Boeheim’s record in his 47 seasons, officially, was 1,015-441, which counts the 101 wins the NCAA took away from him for violations between the 2004-07 and 2010-12 seasons.
No matter the count – 1,015 wins or 1,116 wins, only now-retired Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski had more wins than Boeheim in Division I.
In Boeheim’s 47 years as Syracuse’s coach, the Orange made 35 NCAA tournament appearances, including five Final Fours – the latest in 2016.
“There is no doubt in my mind that without Jim Boeheim, Syracuse Basketball would not be the powerhouse program it is today,” says Syracuse Chancellor Kent Syverud. “Jim has invested and dedicated the majority of his life to building this program, cultivating generations of student-athletes and representing his alma mater with pride and distinction. I extend my deep appreciation and gratitude to an alumnus who epitomizes what it means to be ‘Forever Orange.'”
Boeheim’s comments during his postgame press conference hinted that it could have been his last on the Syracuse sideline.
“I’ve been very lucky to be able to coach my college team, to play and then be an assistant coach and then a head coach, never having to leave Syracuse,” Boeheim said in that postgame news conference, one in which he hinted at retirement, then hinted at returning. “It’s a great university.”
Autry played for Boeheim from 1990 until 1994 and played professionally in Europe and in the United States Basketball League. He began his coaching career as an associate head coach at Bishop Ireton Catholic High School in Alexandria, Va. and in 2008 became director of basketball operations at Virginia Tech under then-head coach Seth Greenburg, later becoming an assistant coach.
“There have been very few stronger influential forces in my life than Syracuse University and Jim Boeheim,” Autry said. “They have both played such important roles and without either of them, I am certain I would not have this incredible opportunity before me.
“I have spent much of my time in the game of basketball learning from Jim and am so grateful to him for preparing me to carry on the winning tradition that is Orange basketball. It’s hard to imagine a world without him on the bench, but together with our coaches, student-athletes and fans, we will build on decades of success as a winning program.”
