From Ball Boys to Bad Boys: Boeheim Forced to Keep Putting Out Fires
On the hardwood, Syracuse was white hot, compiling the best regular-season mark (31-2) in coach Jim Boeheim's 36-year stint and matching a Big East Conference record set by Connecticut in 1995-96 by capturing the league's regular-season crown (17-1).
Off the court, Boeheim was fire chief extraordinaire, putting out fire after fire for about a year stemming from calling an NCAA proposal "completely nuts" requiring teams to be on track to graduating half their players, the dismissal of assistant coach Bernie Fine amid predator allegations and Yahoo Sports publishing a story claiming SU didn't follow its drug-testing policies in allowing 10 players in the previous decade to continue playing after positive results. Right as one might think Boeheim deserved fire retardant, center Fab Melo added fuel to the flames when the Big East Defensive Player of the Year was suspended because of an eligibiity issue.
The heat from the firestorm could have intensified if the Orange became the first #1 seed to lose to a #16 seed. But buttressed by some woeful second-half officiating, the Orange prevailed against UNC Asheville in a game where the score was tied with 6 1/2 minutes remaining.
Beleaguered Boeheim didn't help defuse the scrunity when it appeared beneath his dignity to address any significant issues at a pre-tourney press conference. The surly mentor sounded as if he needed some Melodrama truth serum when saying that Melo "didn't let the team down."
The tales of tumult escalate when Boeheim fails to control his tongue, let alone disdainful facial expressions. Apology notwithstanding, his incendiary money-motivated defense of the alleged 'Cuse Abuse certainly wasn't "fine" when considering the "high" number of suspect students he recruited.
Syracuse is one of 13 schools in the 2012 playoffs that would not be participating in the tournament if a new APR (Academic Progress Rate) was in effect this year. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who averaged a team-high 16.9 points per game for Harvard in 1986-87, didn't mention Boeheim by name but seemed to take a backhanded slap at him when discussing graduation rates.
"When athletic programs have their priorities in order," Duncan was quoted in USA Today, "there are simply no better ways to teach invaluable life lessons than on the playing field or on the court. I just never understood why a small number of universities and colleges allowed rogue programs and coaches to taint that tremendous record of achievement and success."
SU had a longstanding reputation for giving the most clang for your buck when it came to sucess at the foul line. A need for eye exams and other physical testing may explain the previous faulty free-throw marksmanship if players indeed were immersed in alleged off-the-court shenanigans.
Fine has not been charged with a crime and refuted the allegations lodged against him. But is accuser Bobby Davis, a former ball boy who unsuccessfully tried to sue Boeheim and the university for defamation, lying about him being noticed in Fine's road hotel room or is additional backtracking in the offing for Boeheim? In a worst-case scenario, could he be equally oblivious to the problematical academic progress and drug testing?
Post-college career or not, it isn't worth recounting the off-the-court distractions encountered by a disconcerting number of "Boeheim Bad Boys" who were All-Big East selections. There doesn't appear to be a smoking gun. But where there's smoke, there's a high likelihood of fire. By any measure, the unseemly incidents and scholastic neglect covering an extended period leave an unsavory smell.