Boeheim should do the right thing and step down now.

[longislandcuse]

Not even gonna read another post in this nonsensical thread. JB can leave whenever the hell he wants. We're lucky to even have the man. This is Syracuse. We could easily be some no name program.

That's the spirit!!

 

[NYCSUGrad]

The administration thinks he forfeited that right when he got the program on probation for the second time.

I'm not going to presume to tell a stranger when to leave his job, but I'm sympathetic to the school's position, too.

Do you REALLY believe what you said?

SMH indeed!!!!

 

[Francis03]

I see what you're saying and it certainly would make us feel better if we saw a tweet like this about jb and staff. But it's difficult to quantify. It doesn't prove either way who is better or working harder at recruiting. We don't know everything that's going on behind the scenes and we don't really know who the staff is prioritizing. With that said, I think kids are all over social media and any "love" thrown their way is positive.

I suppose now with the season over we will be 100% focused on recruiting.

Since our rep over the past few years is that we don't have to leave the northeast to get players. I would hope that three top 50 players who attend the same school in Jersey would be on the list of the staffs priorities.

 

[HOFCeluck]

We're basically Maryland during the last days of Gary Williams.

 

[Funk Doc]

This is the difference between SU and other programs when it comes to the current state of recruiting. Huggy wins earlier today and advances to the S16. He could easily go home and get praised for the next 3-4 days and prep for the next matchup. Instead he's out recruiting in Ohio on the same day later. Last week we lose to Miami in a noon game in Brooklyn. Later that night, Hudson Catholic out in Jersey which features three top 50 prospects who all have interest in SU is playing in a city championship and you couldn't find a Cuse coach in that building. Some people think I'm dissing the staff or trying to throw shade when I bring stuff like this up, but that's far from what I'm doing. If you're somebody that's complaining about why we're not landing top recruits like before then it's examples like this which is the problem. The staff seriously needs to get on their grind and start doing better moving forward.

When Huggy said he was going recruiting in his interview five seconds after the game was over to "celebrate" his sweet 16, I just shook my head. Just imagining the possibilities!

 

[OrangeXtreme]

When Huggy said he was going recruiting in his interview five seconds after the game was over to "celebrate" his sweet 16, I just shook my head. Just imagining the possibilities!

The gym must have had a happy hour.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

br801 - I showed pretty good restraint in this thread, didn't I? I'm sure you thought I might go overboard, but I stayed pretty mellow.

 

[br801]

br801 - I showed pretty good restraint in this thread, didn't I? I'm sure you thought I might go overboard, but I stayed pretty mellow.

Not surprised at all, you're like a rock around here. Wish I had your self-control. This place and the OT board are testing me.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Not surprised at all, you're like a rock around here. Wish I had your self-control. This place and the OT board are testing me.

I made a conscious decision today. And I knew everyone else would fly off the handle on my behalf.

 

[Jasonrob44]

THAT is perhaps my biggest issue with JB at this time. As I said earlier, it's killing the stability of the program.

No... the sanctions are what are hurting the program. The next head coach is already and has been on the staff for some time now, so it's not like recruits are going to be unfamiliar with him. That's BS.

The fact that we made a final 4 run in the middle of this is remarkable, and speaks volumes of the type of job Boeheim has done through this.

He doesn't get enough respect for staying around to see these sanctions through when he could have easily walked away when the going got tough! But he CARES about what he's built, and doesn't want to hand Hopkins the keys to a dinged up car. He wants to make sure the program is able to sustain success after he leaves. I respect and admire that. But to think the sanctions, which are put forth to HURT a program, aren't a large part of what is happening is delusional.

 

[jr4750]

Huggy Bear outworking Hop. Not sure I'd have ever thought that possible. Dude has a full bar in his basement so he doesn't have to leave to get blitzed. I'm talking like full Irish pub style bar. Also helps him avoid another DUI.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Huggy Bear outworking Hop. Not sure I'd have ever thought that possible. Dude has a full bar in his basement so he doesn't have to leave to get blitzed. I'm talking like full Irish pub style bar. Also helps him avoid another DUI.

So we just went to a final 4 last year and normally that would result in a nice recruiting bump .

If this was our bump I shudder to think what it would have been like if we hadn't even made the tourney

 

[IthacaMatt]

Jimmy earned the right to stay. No one is more loyal to Syracuse.

Jimmy also is a winner. Has he ever put together back-to-back crap seasons? Probably not.

The Hopkins Show will be here soon enough.

He has already fallen the later Bobby Bowden status these past 3 years. The decline is underway. Next year looks like an absolute mess from a roster perspective.

If it wasn't for a couple extra wins in the NCAA tournament, his record hasn't been as good as Tom Crean, who was just fired.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Huggy Bear outworking Hop. Not sure I'd have ever thought that possible. Dude has a full bar in his basement so he doesn't have to leave to get blitzed. I'm talking like full Irish pub style bar. Also helps him avoid another DUI.

Huggy Bear must've put on close to 50 lbs the past few years so getting around can't be easy. Yet, he's grinding!

 

[IthacaMatt]

Is JB stepping down right now really what is best for the program? Personally, I would like to see him get one last season to go out on a high(er) note than the one that he and we are on right now.

As far as recruiting, I know some people follow it much closer than I do, but I wouldn't be surprised if the staff is just as tired of losing our guys after 1 or 2 years as we are, and are simply changing recruiting to go after 4 year players. We can't compete with duke and UK, why pretend that we can? Our best path to success going forward is going the Villanova route. All four years guys with maybe 1 big time recruit every once in a while. It is very obvious that we are struggling to reload every year after losing a guy or 2 early to the draft every season.

We don't have to be Duke or Kentucky. We just have to get the kind of players we usually get. But the last few years, we haven't gotten those guys, and last year, coming off a Final Four, with some excellent returning pieces, we couldn't land anybody at all on our A list.

We mismanaged a few recruits as well. It was amateur hour compared to how we are used to doing. It's been going down for about 2 1/2 t0 3 years. It's visible. It's not just negative recruiting. We're simply getting outworked. There is no excuse to not show any interest at all in very talented kids who express public interest in us. I can't tell you how many times we've seen this happen in the last few years.

We aren't even getting any kids from Michigan, from Georgia, obviously from California. We don't go beyond I-95 from New England Prep schools to Virginia. That's it. NYC has never been our strong suit. It's mostly been Jersey and Philly and a bit of DC.

I want to see if Mike is up to it, because I am beginning to suspect that he isn't, and then we will need to get someone of top quality in place before this turns into Gerg. Too much is at stake regarding the program's future not to want to see the changes get started.

Jim's kids are leaving for college. He's in his 70s and is slipping. He has a habit of bad mouthing kids in the media these past few years that has probably cost us some recruits and chased other players away before they were ready. Time to move on.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I thought it was next season. Has that changed?

It's sort of been an article of faith among insiders that JB never wanted a farewell tour. I think that he was genuinely optimistic that this team was going to be very, very good. After last year's Final Four, if he made it again with this group, he would have been going out on a very high note and could have made the hand off to Mike in a very good way.

But this year has gone all to hell, and it seems like they have taken their eye off the ball with the national team stuff these past few years, like he enjoys doing that more than doing his day job at SU.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Also a bunch of guys leaving early and recruiting restrictions.

But none of that has had any impact, nope, none at all.

None of that says why they came up so empty of all their top targets the past 2 recruiting cycles, and why they didn't even try with a handful of guys who were good enough to play here, and practically begged us to recruit them. But too often, we didn't want to have to outwork or compete. We recruited fewer guys on purpose, and we expected that we were their first choice, not that they had to be sold.

 

[IthacaMatt]

But that's the point. If JB's extended his timeline in the past, what makes you think he won't drag this out next year? No way he gives up coaching without a fight.

How many people think that Pete Thamel article was planted by JB?
If Mike thinks he's taking over, shouldn't he be a lot more concerned with closing these recruits and not leaving it to GMac? Shouldn't GMac be the one watching film, and JB the one running practice? We have still "been allowed" to have Mike and Autry on the road the entire time. Are those 2 guys not enough, somehow?

 

[HakAttack]

How many people think that Pete Thamel article was planted by JB?
If Mike thinks he's taking over, shouldn't he be a lot more concerned with closing these recruits and not leaving it to GMac? Shouldn't GMac be the one watching film, and JB the one running practice? We have still "been allowed" to have Mike and Autry on the road the entire time. Are those 2 guys not enough, somehow?

I think we're going to wake up sometime during the 18'-19' season and realize we've all been duped, because JAB is still coaching on that Carrier Dome sideline.

 

[IthacaMatt]

If Lydon leaves we are screwed, it doesn't matter who is coaching, we could be Bc bad, we need him back.

No, it's just going to slow down the process by another year. Let Hopkins start changing the system and let him get out there and sign some players.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I hear that, but others have stated in this thread alone that JB "kicked the tires" on asking about coaching past that extended timeline. As far as I'm concerned, until the words "I'm now retiring" come out of James Arthur Boeheim's mouth, I don't give too much weight to a timeline.

He feels like the NCAA is costing him his job, and he didn't do anything wrong.
He's a proud man. I understand.
But the results are not his usual standard. It's clear that we're slipping.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I see what you're saying and it certainly would make us feel better if we saw a tweet like this about jb and staff. But it's difficult to quantify. It doesn't prove either way who is better or working harder at recruiting. We don't know everything that's going on behind the scenes and we don't really know who the staff is prioritizing. With that said, I think kids are all over social media and any "love" thrown their way is positive.

I suppose now with the season over we will be 100% focused on recruiting.

Twitter is the reality of recruiting. You can see a lot just by watching.

 

[IthacaMatt]

No... the sanctions are what are hurting the program. The next head coach is already and has been on the staff for some time now, so it's not like recruits are going to be unfamiliar with him. That's BS.

The fact that we made a final 4 run in the middle of this is remarkable, and speaks volumes of the type of job Boeheim has done through this.

He doesn't get enough respect for staying around to see these sanctions through when he could have easily walked away when the going got tough! But he CARES about what he's built, and doesn't want to hand Hopkins the keys to a dinged up car. He wants to make sure the program is able to sustain success after he leaves. I respect and admire that. But to think the sanctions, which are put forth to HURT a program, aren't a large part of what is happening is delusional.

Sorry, Jason, but we aren't even filling the roster. So sanctions are not really hurting, at least not in the sense of the loss of scholarships, because we aren't close to filling them. You would think the Final Four would boost recruiting. It has in the past, at least in terms of the profile of the recruits, if not their final results on the court.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Why does bad thread that is bad have 9 pages of comments?

JB can do whatever the fvck he wants to. He's earned that right.

nobody earns the right to do whatever the fvck they want. He's been paid for his work. This is just crazy talk.

 

[Digger]

His recruiting has fallen off a cliff the last 4-5 seasons. His inability to commit to a firm retirement date is killing the stability of this program. He can't manage a team effectively anymore. The JB of ten years ago would have won 2-3 more games at least with this team and gotten us into the tournament.

Better to leave a year too early than a year too late. He just doesn't have it anymore. And don't tell me that last year's final four run is proof to the contrary. The region absolutely parted like the Red Sea for us when Sparty got upset and it still took two miraculous comebacks in Chicago just to get to Houston. That was a miracle run last March and you'd be absolutely foolish to think that it indicates that the program is stable right now.

Time to say goodbye. It's over, Jim.

We were closer to being a St. Bonaventure than a blue blood before Jim Boeheim. A private school in upstate NY that went on an unlikely FF run that allowed our HC to jump UP to...Tulane.

Everything you currently love about Syracuse basketball is because of Jim Boeheim. Everything.

There already IS a plan in place for when he will retire and who will take over. And it's ONE year from now. For any poster to complain about that plan being one year longer than what they'd prefer is ridiculous. Yes. Even on a message board.

Jim Boeheim built Syracuse basketball.

He's owed this, plus a lot more.