Coach Jim Calhoun Defends Syracuse Basketball

The Hall of Fame Coach defended his former conference rival this week on 1045 The Team. 

Coach Jim Calhoun has had his fair share of memorable games with fellow Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim. Coach Calhoun retired from coaching in 2012 while Coach Boeheim has continued to pile up wins leading the Syracuse Orange. The NCAA announced in March that it was vacating 108 Syracuse victories between 2004 and 2012 because the school used players who should have been ineligible in some games. The NCAA found several instances of what it called academic fraud, including one case where two staff members did coursework for a player to help him pass a class. Coach Jim Calhoun joined 1045 TheTeam this week and defended his former rival.

“I really don’t know that because I don’t know all the facts. My problem with the whole NCAA thing is, and this is just philosophically and against nobody personally. But very simply did Syracuse make some mistakes? I’m sure they did because we made mistakes. Any program makes mistakes. But it seems to me you find one program and they made some mistakes and then other programs never get touched. And I don’t want anybody touched, trust me, I don’t want anybody to have to go through a suspension. Reversely, some of the things that they looked at, that kid working at a YMCA or some other things that happened. I don’t think those should be the kinds of things. I think we need to have somebody who knows basketball. I’ve always said this. I think football has the advantage with the schools that they have in the power five and even down AAC, which we’re in football. The people who understand the game much much better as they do in football, therefore they control the rules and much more. In basketball, I don’t think we have any kind of clout that boasts like a Mike Krzyzewski like a Jim Boeheim like all these coaches who truly know the game and truly understand the difference between making mistakes and cheating. I don’t think Syracuse cheated, I think they made some mistakes. I think all programs make some mistakes. I think there’s got to be a better way to have people who understand the game better to make sure that we in term have more say on what happens to our programs.”

Coach Jim Calhoun will be apart of the Howard Garfinkel Basketball clinic this weekend in Albany. The Clinic to End All Clinics will begin at 9:00 a.m. in the Shenendehowa High School Gymnasium. To hear more about the clinic listen to the full interview below