A day after Jim Boeheim's noticeable absence from his postgame press conference Saturday, the Syracuse Orange coach appeared at a private dinner to address the NCAA's sanctions against the team.
Syracuse.com reported purchasing a ticket to the Hardwood Club dinner Sunday night, which was open to the public and attended by some 700 people. He addressed the extensive penalties against him and his team, but emphasized that they will not spell the end of his tenure.
"I'm not going anywhere," he told the crowd of Orange basketball fans.
Syracuse.com recorded Boeheim's address and you can listen to it HERE.
Per NCAA.com, Boeheim will be stripped of 108 wins he accumulated with players on the court who should been ineligible. The coach will also have to sit out the first nine games of his team's ACC scheduled. The Syracuse men's basketball team will also lose three scholarships per year for the next four academic years. The NCAA also accepted the team's self-imposed post-season ban for this season.
Citing "a source with direct knowledge of the situation," ESPN reported Boeheim plans to appeal his suspension.
An unnamed source told Syracuse.com Boeheim was disallowed by "his bosses" from addressing the media after the Orange's season finale loss to N.C. State. Mike Hopkins, an assistant on Boeheim's staff, declined at the time to say if missing the postgame presser was the coach's choice.
Syracuse.com noted it may well have been the only time the coach has missed a postgame press conference in his 39-year tenure. But before he was the Orange's head coach, he attended Syracuse University and played guard on the team from 1962 to 1966.
"I don't think these players could've done much more given the set of circumstances that they dealt with this year on the basketball court," Boeheim said of his team this season. "It showed an awful lot of heart and determination and grit, and I think they should be saluted."
