Syracuse AD Daryl Gross steps down; Jim Boeheim to retire in three years

Syracuse has officially begun the process of cleaning up its image in the wake of serious NCAA sanctions that were handed down against the men’s basketball program less than two weeks ago. For starters, athletic director Daryl Gross is leaving his current post.

Dave Tobin of Syracuse.com reports that Gross will remain with the school in a different position, and it is unclear if he was fired as athletic director or stepped down.

Shortly after word of Gross’ demotion surfaced, Syracuse announced that head coach Jim Boeheim will coach the Orange for three more years before retiring. He has apparently reached an agreement with Syracuse officials on what is the first time an actual date has been placed on the 70-year-old Boeheim calling it a career.

A lot of this is damage control at its finest. Syracuse was recently penalized by the NCAA after it was discovered that basketball program employees allegedly posed as athletes and corresponded with professors via email. Some even submitted coursework that was needed to keep the players eligible.

You can read a summary of the sanctions against Syracuse here.

Among the penalties for the men’s basketball team was the vacating of 108 wins, which means Boeheim now has 858 in his career. The Hall of Fame coach had notched his 900th victory over two years ago. He was second on the NCAA’s all-time win list before the penalties were announced and is now sixth.

While the NCAA determined that Boeheim did not “promote an atmosphere of compliance,” Gross stepping down will deflect some of the attention from the head coach. Boeheim also likely announced that he will coach three more seasons to make it clear he is not hiding from the penalties or being forced from the program.