After saying in an interview with Michael Kay and Don La Greca on ESPN 98.7 that he only has one year left on his current contract, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim clarified his comments to SNY.tv.
“I have a contract as long as I want to coach,” Boeheim said by phone. “As many years as I want.”
Boeheim, 69, added that he has “no plan” on how long he will coach.
During the radio interview, Boeheim said he only had one year remaining on his deal.
“I have only one year left on my contract here right now,” Boeheim said. “So I can’t guarantee that I’m going to coach here but I tell [recruits] I think I will. It’s a great school and you should come here because we have a great program and I will be here I think. If I’m not here there will be a really good coach here.”
Kay had asked Boeheim whether it was fair for coaches to be able to leave one school for another while players are bound via National Letters of Intent.
“I’ve been recruiting when I have one year left on my contract so I can’t say to the kid I have a four-year contract,” Boeheim said.
Boeheim told SNY.tv there is no update on freshman point guard Tyler Ennis and sophomore forward Jerami Grant, who are considering whether to declare for the NBA Draft.
“I don’t think there will be any word on them for a while,” he said.
Asked if he expected them to come back, he said, “You never know in this business. They’ll figure it out somehow.”
Boeheim’s own future has implications on several fronts.
First, Mike Hopkins is the heir to Boeheim at Syracuse but Hopkins eventually wants to be a head coach. He has been linked to both the Marquette and Boston College openings.
If Hopkins were to take another job and Boeheim ends his career soon, Syracuse would need to find another replacement.
Second, with the ACC Tournament set to come to Brooklyn in 2017, it remains to be seen if Boeheim will end up coaching there.
As mentioned before, Boeheim will be 72 then, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski will be 70 and North Carolina’s Roy Williams 70.
Finally, Syracuse has two commits for 2015, New Hampton (N.H.) forward Tyler Lydon and Trenton (N.J.) Catholic guard Malachi Richardson.
