Syracuse male basketball coach Jim Boeheim questioned a reporter’s credibility based on his height and perceived lack of experience in basketball after a 64-54 home win over Clemson on Wednesday night.
On Monday, Matthew Gutierrez, who covers Syracuse basketball for The Athletic, tweeted that Orange would be “somewhere around 17-5 overall” and at 68 if reserves Jesse Edwards and Kadary Richmond had registered more minutes. The combined pair scored 12 points in their 72-70 victory over North Carolina that day.
Gutierrez tweeted on Tuesday that he and Boeheim were “very good at it” after having discussed their observations. On Wednesday, however, Boeheim appeared to respond to Gutierrez’s original tweet when asked after the game.
“But if I had faced Jesse and Kadary, we would probably be 22-2 now,” said Boeheim after Wednesday’s victory. “I just didn’t see it. I couldn’t find out for myself after 45 years. I need a reporter to find this out … who never played basketball and is 1.52 m.”
Edwards (1.9 points per game) and Richmond (6.9 PPG) combined to score five points on Wednesday.
Syracuse is a bubble team listed in “Next Four Out” by ESPN insider Joe Lunardi.
Wednesday night was not the first time that Boeheim’s comments caught the eye this season. Last month on his radio show, after Duke freshman Jalen Johnson’s decision not to prepare for the NBA draft, Boeheim said the projected lottery choice was “hurting” the Blue Devils, who have become one better team in their subsequent games without it.
After facing criticism, including from ESPN commentator Jay Bilas, Boeheim tried to step back in his comments.
“This is not dispersion, casting dispersion over Jalen Johnson,” Boeheim said at a post-game press conference last month. “To be honest, I haven’t even seen Jalen Johnson play this year. He’s a fantastic player. Probably a great professional. I just noticed, in my opinion, that I thought they played better without him in those two games. Jay Bilas said I said that they are a better team without him, permanently. I did not say that. I did not mean that. “