After 700, a more playful Boeheim
He had just won his 700th game as a Division I college basketball coach, joining an exclusive club, to which only 17 other men belong.
So he hooted and hollered and stirred the crowd, insisting that the Orange wasn’t done winning, that there was still work to be done.
And the people loved it.
Moments later, he let a slightly smaller crowd of reporters in on a little secret.
‘I could have done without all that,’ Boeheim admitted. ‘You have to do that though, because that’s what people expect. I don’t need that. I never have.’
Syracuse’s 91-66 drubbing of Providence on Senior Day earned Boeheim the adulation of fans, his players and the media. Yet, after the postgame ceremony was over, he admitted the benchmark was more a distraction for him and his team than a cause for celebration.
Boeheim joins Bob Knight, Eddie Sutton, Lute Olsen, John Chaney and Mike Krzyzewski among active coaches with 700 wins.
‘(It’s great) just being part of a special moment,’ said SU assistant coach Mike Hopkins. ‘How many guys have 700 wins? Seventeen? And 10 of them are 6 feet under. He’s arguably the best coach in college basketball.’
Immediately after SU’s win, the Orange joined Boeheim at halfcourt to celebrate the milestone. Director of Athletics Daryl Gross and Chancellor Nancy Cantor also joined the celebration, as did former Chancellor Kenneth Shaw, Boeheim’s wife, Juli, and their children. Boeheim was presented with a banner signed by SU supporters. In the stands, fans furiously waved 700-win signs, and then cheered wildly when he took the microphone to speak.
‘It was great to get this all done,’ Boeheim said in his postgame press conference, at which he was uncharacteristically open, candid and playful. ‘When you’re playing in a team game, it’s best to get those things done so you can concentrate on what is really important, which is to win the next game.’
Boeheim did say he would cherish the win – just not publicly.
‘But that doesn’t mean I’m not very happy about something or proud about something,’ he said, ‘because for me, that’s just a private feeling. It always has been.’
Meanwhile, the Dome was still buzzing with fans, still high off the celebration. A handful of his players stood in the locker room, ecstatic that they could supply their coach his 700th win. Even one of Boeheim’s sons carried a handmade sign that read ‘700,’ which he occasionally waved while his father downplayed the significance of the honor.
Before the final horn sounded, the mood in the Carrier Dome seemed conflicted, considering there was so much to celebrate. Most signs inside the Dome were directed to three SU seniors – Hakim Warrick, Josh Pace and Craig Forth – who were playing their final home game at Syracuse. Only once, with 3:34 remaining in the game, did the student section launch into a ‘Se-ven-hun-dred‘ chant, but even that was quickly quieted when play resumed, as if Boeheim had willed it dead with a wave of his hand.
He neglected to believe that the crowd of 32,000 came to cheer him on, instead insisting they came for Warrick, Pace and Forth.
‘I don’t think people come to see coaches,’ Boeheim said.
But they did. They saw him coach Syracuse to victory. They gave him an ovation. Then they saw Boeheim leave the court that bears his name. It seemed a fitting conclusion to a game which most of SU’s players said they were lucky to be a part of.
‘When I was younger, to say that I’d play for a coach who’d win 700 games, you just don’t conceive it,’ said guard Gerry McNamara. ‘I’m proud to be in this situation.’
Near the conclusion of Boeheim’s 18-minute postgame press conference, he stopped to look around the room for questions. Then realized what he had just done – spoken candidly about himself for almost half that time.
‘Enough into the soul here today,’ he said a little embarrassed. ‘That’s the last time for that.’
Published on February 25, 2005 at 12:00 pm
