James Arthur “Jim” Boeheim

Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Syracuse University

Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim has had a remarkable 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 36 years. SU has made 29 trips into the NCAA Tournament, including Final Four appearances in 1987, 1996 and 2003, and the NCAA championship in 2003.

He coached the 2011-12 Syracuse squad to a 34-3 mark and the “Elite Eight” of the NCAA Tournament. He added to his NCAA Division I record for 20-win seasons by posting his 34th.

Boeheim wrapped up his most recent season as head coach on the Hill with an 890-304 (.745) overall record. He ranked second among active Division I coaches in wins and third overall at the end of the campaign.

Two of Syracuse’s last three campaigns have been among the best in Orange history. In 2009-10, Boeheim guided the Orange to the NCAA “Sweet 16,” the BIG EAST Conference regular-season title and a 30-5 overall record. He was honored with a number of coach of the year awards, including those presented by the Associated Press, Naismith Award, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). This past season the Orange set a school record for wins (34) and tied the BIG EAST record for wins (17). Syracuse was ranked in the top five all season and finished the year in the NCAA “Sweet 16).

Boeheim achieved the ultimate basketball tribute in 2005 when he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was honored again during the postseason, receiving the John R. Wooden “Legends of Coaching” Award in April. That spring he and Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun were the “Spirit of Jimmy V” honorees at the annual V Foundation Gala.

Boeheim enrolled at Syracuse in 1962 and was a walk-on with the basketball team. 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 program’s second-ever NCAA Tournament berth. In 1969 he turned to a career in coaching and was hired as a graduate assistant at SU by head coach Roy Danforth. In 1976, he was appointed head coach at his alma mater.

A four-time BIG EAST Coach of the Year Boeheim has been honored as NABC District II Coach of the Year 10 times and USBWA District II Coach of the Year on four occasions. 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. On February 24, 2002, the University named the Carrier Dome court “Jim Boeheim Court.” Boeheim joined a select group of coaches working the sidelines of a court named after them.

A long-time participant in the USA Basketball program, Boeheim was named 2001 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year. He’s served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic teams that won gold medals in 2008 and 2012.

A champion of many charitable causes, Boeheim started the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation. He has lent his time to Coaches vs. Cancer, 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, among others.

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

(9/10/12)