Syracuse University Athletics

Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim has had a remarkable 33-year run as head coach at his alma mater, Syracuse University. Boeheim has guided only winning teams in his tenure and has pushed the Orange into the postseason in all but one of his years. SU has made 26 trips into the NCAA Tournament, including Final Four appearances in 1987, 1996 and 2003, and the NCAA championship in 2003.

     He coached the 2008-09 Syracuse squad to a 28-10 mark and the third round of the NCAA Tournament. During the campaign, Boeheim passed legendary North Carolina coach Dean Smith for the most 20-win campaigns in Division I history when he earned his 31st. No other Division I coach has reached that total.

     Boeheim wrapped up his 33rd season as head coach on the Hill with a 799-288 (.735) overall record. He ranked tenth among active Division I coaches in winning percentage and third in victories at the end of the campaign.

     The 2005-06 season was a special one for Boeheim as he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September. He was honored again during the postseason, receiving the John R. Wooden “Legends of Coaching” Award in April. Boeheim joined previous recipients Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Lute Olson, Denny Crum, Roy Williams, Mike Montgomery and Jim Calhoun. That spring he and Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun were the “Spirit of Jimmy V” honorees at the annual V Foundation Gala.

     Hall of Fame selection has capped a remarkable climb for the native of Lyons, N.Y. Boeheim enrolled at Syracuse in 1962 and was a walk-on with the basketball team that year. By Boeheim’s senior season, he was a team captain along with the legendary Dave Bing. The Orange were 22-6 overall that year and earned the team’s second-ever NCAA Tournament berth.

     After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in social science, Boeheim played professional basketball with Scranton of the Eastern League. He was a member of two championship squads and earned second-team all-star honors.

     In 1969 he turned to a career in coaching and was hired as a graduate assistant at SU by head coach Roy Danforth. He was soon promoted to a full-time assistant coaching post and was part of the staff that guided the Orange to the program’s first Final Four appearance in 1975. A year later he was appointed head coach at his alma mater.

     On February 24, 2002, the University named the Carrier Dome court “Jim Boeheim Court” in recognition of his many accomplishments. Boeheim joined a select group of coaches working the sidelines of a court named after them. 

     A three-time BIG EAST Coach of the Year, Boeheim has been honored as District II Coach of the Year 10 times by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). During the 2000 Final Four he was presented with the Claire Bee Award in recognition of his contributions to the sport. In the fall of 2000, he received Syracuse University’s Arents Award, the school’s highest alumni honor.

     In 2001 Boeheim was named USA Basketball National Coach of the Year after leading the Young Men's Team to the gold medal at the World Championship in Japan. It marked his seventh year of USA Basketball coaching experience. When the Senior Men’s Team program was restructured in 2005, Boeheim was tabbed to be an assistant to Mike Krzyzewski, a three-year appointment. The U.S. won the bronze medal at the 2006 World Championship and gold at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship. The 2007 result earned Team USA an automatic spot in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where the Americans captured the coveted gold medal. The U.S. Olympic staff is staying intact through the 2012 Olympics in London.

     A champion of many charitable causes, Boeheim has been most active with “Coaches vs. Cancer,” a national fundraising organization affiliated with the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the American Cancer Society. He has also lent his time to Crouse Hospital’s Kienzle Family Maternity Center, the Children’s Miracle Network, the Eldercare Foundation, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Pioneer Center for the Blind and Disabled, Lighthouse, People in Wheelchairs, Easter Seals, the Special Olympics, the Rescue Mission and the Jack Bruen Fund. The Crouse Health Foundation chose Boeheim as its honoree for Tribute Evening 2003, the Foundation’s annual fundraising gala. In May 2005, he received the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center Inspiration Award from the University of Rochester Medical Center.

     Jim and his wife, Juli, are parents of James Arthur Boeheim, III, and twins Jack and Jamie. Jim also has a daughter, Elizabeth.