It will now only include three of Syracuse’s conference games.
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The organization rejected the Hall of Fame coach’s appeal on his nine-game suspension, a punishment that was originally handed down in March as part of a wide-ranging set of sanctions on Boeheim’s storied basketball powerhouse program. The appeals committee also stated they reversed when the it would be served because handing down a suspension for conference games was a departure from precedent.
While the Appeals Committee’s decision is technically a concession to Syracuse, it’s debatable whether it’s more helpful or harmful to the Orange. Mike Hopkins, who will take over when Boeheim retires in 2018, will take over all head coaching tasks.
He will not be officially reinstated until the Orange host the North Carolina Tarheels on January 9.
Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim still will have to serve a nine-game suspension for violations that happened under his watch, but he won’t have to wait until his team begins its ACC schedule against Pittsburgh on December 30. He’ll still miss games against Pittsburgh, Miami and Clemson, but among the six games he now won’t have to skip are matchups with the Tar Heels, Duke, Virginia and Notre Dame. The NCAA modified the suspension so that Boeheim could start serving the suspension immediately, although that will hardly ease Boeheim’s mind. Boeheim was not found directly responsible for any of those issues, but the NCAA punished him anyway because it said he did not promote an atmosphere of compliance. He will sit out the next nine games, beginning with Saturday’s game against former Big East rival Georgetown. We just have to work through it. The team will be all right. “The coaches are prepared”.
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“The University is pleased the Appeals Committee recognized that the initial sanction imposed on Coach Boeheim was too harsh”, Kevin Quinn, Syracuse University senior vice president for public affairs, said in a statement. The NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee also agreed that this case was in sharp contrast to cases where head coaches were directly involved in a number of underlying violations, including unethical conduct violations, recruiting violations, and violations of the NCAA legislation regarding extra benefits. As a result, the Orange have lost eight scholarships over four years and have had to vacate all men’s basketball wins in which an ineligible player participated from 2004 through 2012.
