Syracuse Basketball: Two longest-tenured coaches to battle this season

SU Athletics continues to reveal non-conference duels for Syracuse basketball during the upcoming 2022-23 campaign.

A press release from cuse.com says that the Orange will host Oakland on Tuesday, Dec. 6, from the newly renamed JMA Wireless Dome.

According to cuse.com, when Syracuse basketball and the Golden Grizzlies go toe to toe this December, it will mark a contest involving the two longest-tenured head coaches in Division I men’s hoops.

Orange head coach Jim Boeheim has guided his alma mater for 46 stanzas, which is the most among active head coaches. Right behind him is Oakland head coach Greg Kampe, who has led the Golden Grizzlies for 38 terms, per SU Athletics.

As far as games coached in Division I, Boeheim is first, at 1,423, followed by Coastal Carolina’s Cliff Ellis (1,357), West Virginia’s Bob Huggins (1,315) and then Kampe, at 1,168. During his tenure at Oakland, Kampe is 664-504, according to cuse.com.

All-time, Syracuse basketball is 4-0 versus Oakland, with all the victories on the Hill.

The most recent time that the Orange squared off with the Golden Grizzlies came on December 18, 2019, when the ‘Cuse prevailed, 74-62. In that win, Syracuse basketball got beat on the boards, and Oakland fared well scoring in the interior.

A season ago, the Orange went 16-17, the first losing stanza ever for Boeheim as the team’s head coach. The Golden Grizzlies, meanwhile, finished up 2021-22 with a 20-12 record, including a 12-7 mark in Horizon League competition.

Besides Oakland, the ‘Cuse recently announced non-conference home games against Lehigh on November 7 and Colgate on November 15.

College basketball insider Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports has reported that Bryant will travel to the Dome on November 26.

Syracuse basketball is expected to suit up in the 2022 Empire Classic, a pre-season tournament that will also feature Richmond, former Big East Conference rival St. John’s and Temple.

My assumption is that the ‘Cuse will have two match-ups in this year’s Empire Classic, but I don’t know that for sure.

Long-time Big East adversary Georgetown is supposed to come to Central New York in 2022-23, and I would assume that the Orange will participate in the annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

If NY neighbor Cornell ends up playing on the Hill, then by my count that makes nine non-conference games to date for Syracuse basketball, with two more remaining.