Syracuse Basketball: Recruiting efforts in the post-Jim Boeheim era
By Neil Adler
Syracuse basketball recruiting will inevitably change after Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim retires.
There are a lot of positive “sells” that Syracuse basketball possesses when its coaches are making recruiting pitches to prospects, and Jim Boeheim is at the apex of the list.
The team is one of the winningest programs in the sport’s history. It regularly leads NCAA Division I men’s hoops in annual attendance, with marquee games attracting 30,000-plus fans, regardless of the Central New York weather outside.
The Orange competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of the premier leagues around the country, with a ton of its encounters every season on some form of regional or national television. The ‘Cuse has top-notch practice and training facilities.
Oh, and Syracuse boasts a Hall of Fame head coach who has captured more than 1,000 conquests (hi, NCAA), advanced to five Final Fours, and cut down the nets in 2003.
That legendary boss, Boeheim, is still going strong, and undoubtedly he’s got at least a few terms left in him roaming the sidelines on the Hill.
However, and I hate to acknowledge this, but at some juncture in the future, Boeheim will wrap up his stellar coaching career, paving the way for one of his current assistants – or another excellent candidate – to lead the Orange. Whom that replacement will ultimately be is a conversation for another day.
The ‘Cuse is on a terrific recruiting roll. Last week, Syracuse landed 2020 four-star center Frank Anselem and 2021 four-star small forward Benny Williams. Dior Johnson, a five-star point guard in the 2022 class, committed to Syracuse earlier this year.
All three of these Orange recruits, and countless more over the past few decades, have noted their relationships with Boeheim. He’s an icon in college basketball, they say. He’s built a big-time hoops brand in Central New York, they add. Boeheim knows what he’s doing, and he gets players to the pros, they point out.
Syracuse basketball recruiting will absolutely shift, one way or another, after Jim Boeheim calls it quits.
Without question, ‘Cuse assistant coaches Adrian Autry, Gerry McNamara and Allen Griffin must get a lot of props for their recruiting prowess, and maybe one of them will succeed Boeheim.
But even if the next Syracuse head coach comes from Boeheim’s coaching family – or is an outsider with an exquisite resume – he isn’t likely going to have the same credentials as Boeheim himself.
Will that affect the Orange’s recruiting? It’s impossible to know how things will shake out until a replacement is named. Yet it’s fairly safe to assume that whomever next guides the ‘Cuse will face a huge challenge in the recruiting arena.
That’s because one of Syracuse’s most-important recruiting advantages, Boeheim himself, will have gone away. And unless the new head coach has amassed more than 1,000 victories, collected more than 40-straight years of winning seasons, and claimed a national championship, then he will have one fewer “sell” to high-school players and transfers in attempting to court them to the ‘Cuse.
This doesn’t mean that Syracuse recruiting will fall off the map. It could take a slide, or perhaps not. But it will definitely, unequivocally prove different.