Jim Boeheim shot down speculation that he may be retiring, saying after Syracuse’s 61-39 loss to Georgetown Saturday that he has never given thought to the idea.
Rumors of Boeheim’s impending retirement began last week with a report from a small-time blog saying that Syracuse asked Boeheim to step down after the season because of NCAA investigations. A tweet from Syracuse’s Twitter account that linked to the story seemed to lend credibility to the report, but the school denied there was any truth to the report and said the tweet was sent by mistake.
Fast forward to Saturday after Syracuse’s blowout loss to Georgetown. Boeheim was asked if he would miss his school’s rivalry with Georgetown in light of Syracuse’s upcoming move to the ACC.
“Well, you know, I’m pretty much ready to go play golf some place,” Boeheim said, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard. “If I was 40 years old, I’d be real upset. I’m not … 40 years old. That should be obvious.”
The quote makes plenty of sense in that context. However, when taken out of context, the coach’s comments can lead to headlines like, “Boeheim is ready to go play golf,” which results in more speculation about retirement.
After being made aware that the golf quote was fueling retirement rumors, Boeheim responded.
“I haven’t given a thought to retiring,” Boeheim told The Post-Standard. “There’s nothing to talk about because I haven’t given a thought to it. I’ve never … ever … ever … ever … said anything about retiring.
“I’ve said the same thing all year, and all last year: I just want to get through the year. I have no plans to retire. Could I retire? Anything can happen, but I have no thoughts right now.”
Boeheim said he would have told the truth had he genuinely been thinking about retirement, and he added that the golf line was just a joke.
At this point, I’m taking Boeheim at his word and I’m prepared to look like a sucker if he does step down. I just don’t see it happening.
