Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"
03-18-2015, 12:23 PM
Syracuse announced today that Jim Boeheim would be retiring in 3 years. It's receiving a lot of criticism, but I think it's absolutely brilliant. Here's why:
1. Keep recruits: Syracuse's 2015 kids must have been worried about who they would be playing for. With this announcement, they know it will be Boeheim, at least for 3 years. By the time Mike Hopkins takes over, they will either have matriculated to the NBA or have familiarity with him and how he will run the program.
2. Keep recruiting: Boeheim can focus on 2016 targets like Tyus Battle and Sedee Keita while being able to promise them he will at least be around their first two years. Hopkins can start recruiting 2017 targets and beyond while being able to promise them he will be their coach for the bulk of their college careers. Everyone knows the score, smoothing the transition.
3. Minimize transfers: We saw how Marquette lost 3/4 of our recruiting class and 3 returning players when Wojo took over. I doubt the 'Cuse loses any of their 2015s, and as mentioned before, all the players will have plenty of time to get to know Hopkins, reducing the likelihood of transfers when he eventually takes the helm.
4. Weather the sanctions: Syracuse's scholarships reductions are for 3 years. If they have players like Gbinje or Cooney transfer, that could start in 2015, which would let Hopkins start with a clean slate and all the grime of the Boeheim era scrubbed away. Otherwise, he only has to deal with one year of sanctions at most.
From Bernie Fine to the recent sanctions to Boeheim's reactions, I've felt Syracuse has handled most of their PR pretty poorly considering all the fire they've been under. This, on the other hand, is being handled really well. Kudos to Syracuse, looks like they found a way to sneak out of the Boeheim era relatively painlessly.
1. Keep recruits: Syracuse's 2015 kids must have been worried about who they would be playing for. With this announcement, they know it will be Boeheim, at least for 3 years. By the time Mike Hopkins takes over, they will either have matriculated to the NBA or have familiarity with him and how he will run the program.
2. Keep recruiting: Boeheim can focus on 2016 targets like Tyus Battle and Sedee Keita while being able to promise them he will at least be around their first two years. Hopkins can start recruiting 2017 targets and beyond while being able to promise them he will be their coach for the bulk of their college careers. Everyone knows the score, smoothing the transition.
3. Minimize transfers: We saw how Marquette lost 3/4 of our recruiting class and 3 returning players when Wojo took over. I doubt the 'Cuse loses any of their 2015s, and as mentioned before, all the players will have plenty of time to get to know Hopkins, reducing the likelihood of transfers when he eventually takes the helm.
4. Weather the sanctions: Syracuse's scholarships reductions are for 3 years. If they have players like Gbinje or Cooney transfer, that could start in 2015, which would let Hopkins start with a clean slate and all the grime of the Boeheim era scrubbed away. Otherwise, he only has to deal with one year of sanctions at most.
From Bernie Fine to the recent sanctions to Boeheim's reactions, I've felt Syracuse has handled most of their PR pretty poorly considering all the fire they've been under. This, on the other hand, is being handled really well. Kudos to Syracuse, looks like they found a way to sneak out of the Boeheim era relatively painlessly.