Bonheim: NCAA Ignored My Efforts

Expressing his relief that the 8-year NCAA investigation into Syracuse University’s basketball program has concluded, head coach Jim Boeheim also stated his disappointment in the sports organization for not acknowledging his efforts “to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the Men’s Basketball Program.”

“The Committee chose to ignore the efforts which I have undertaken over the past 37 years to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the Men’s Basketball Program,” he said in a statement. “Instead they chose to focus on the rogue and secretive actions of a former employee of the local YMCA and my former Director of Basketball Operations in order to impose an unprecedented series of penalties upon the University and the Men’s Basketball Program.”

The NCAA panel penalized Syracuse University’s athletic program for violating rules on drugs and gifts, citing ten instances in the past decade. These violations included academic misconduct, failure to follow drug-testing policy, and impermissible academic assistance (gifts to athletes). As a result, Boeheim was suspended for nine games and lost three annual scholarships for four years. The University’s football and basketball programs were placed on probation for five years.