Jim Boeheim faces tough call if Syracuse basketball season happens

Syracuse basketball boss Jim Boeheim is a fierce competitor and loyal to his school unlike any other, but is roaming the sidelines a threat to his health?

It’s totally speculation at this juncture to even consider whether or not Syracuse basketball will have a 2020-21 campaign due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, but if the Orange does, that puts head coach Jim Boeheim in a difficult position.

Boeheim has led the ‘Cuse for more than four decades, and he probably bleeds Orange more than anyone on this planet. He loves the game of basketball, and he undeniably wants to coach comes this fall.

However, Boeheim is also in his mid-70s, which puts him in a higher-risk category as far as the pandemic is concerned, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He’s also a cancer survivor.

So if Syracuse hoops does suit up in a few months, a key question becomes, is it safe for Boeheim – or other older coaches like Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and North Carolina’s Roy Williams – to grace the sidelines with their presence? Should these head coaches consider taking 2020-21 off?

That is a topic that CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish delved into a few days ago, and it’s an issue absolutely important to monitor, given just how much Boeheim means to Orange basketball and the greater ‘Cuse community in Central New York and throughout the country.

Assuming Syracuse students return to campus this fall, and the basketball term transpires, but no vaccine exists, is it safe for Boeheim to reside in a locker room with more than a dozen players who interact with many other students on a daily basis?

I’m no public-health expert, but I can’t imagine that is safe for Boeheim.

In Parrish’s article, Dr. Jon McCullers, an expert on influenza and pandemics, said in reference to a coach or a professor in his or her 60s, or possibly older, being on a college campus this fall, “I don’t think it will be safe.”

McCullers, the pediatrician-in-chief at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and the associate dean at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s College of Medicine, told Parrish that he will recommend that professors age 60 and up work remotely or take a year off. McCullers would recommend the same approach for coaches in this age bracket.

This is sensible, although it would naturally prove a bummer if the Orange competes this upcoming fall and winter months, and Boeheim is not leading the way. It’s totally up to Boeheim what he ultimately wants to do, and he certainly doesn’t have to make a decision now.

Personally, I would hope that Boeheim will do what’s in his best interests, health-wise. Basketball should come a distant second. But we all know how much Boeheim adores collegiate hoops and the ‘Cuse.

It’s a challenging spot to find himself in, and I for one support Boeheim no matter what he eventually chooses to do.