Jim Boeheim: 'It's difficult right now'
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim vowed Sunday to ride out the turbulence of the program's harsh NCAA penalties, saying he was "not going anywhere" in the wake of a nine-game suspension, the docking of 12 scholarships and 108 vacated wins.
The NCAA handed down the punishment Friday as a result of a multiyear investigation into the university's athletic programs.
"There's a lot of things to be said. It's difficult right now," Boeheim told an audience of Orange basketball fans at a Hardwood Club dinner, according to Syracuse.com.
The event was open to the public and attended by Syracuse.com after it purchased a ticket. It came a day after Boeheim declined to attend a postgame news conference when NC State fans taunted the Hall of Fame coach and his team during their season-ending loss to the Wolfpack. His bosses had told him not to speak to the media after the game, Syracuse.com reported.
"I think there's a hell of a battle ahead of us," Boeheim said Sunday.
"I came here in 1962," he said after a 10-second pause, according to the website. "I'm not going anywhere."
The audience greeted Boeheim's comments with a long standing ovation. He did not go into the penalties any further, according to the report.
Syracuse's penalties include a five-year probation and the vacating of all wins in which ineligible men's basketball student-athletes played during the 2004-07 and 2010-12 seasons and in which ineligible football student-athletes played in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
In addition, the NCAA agreed to accept the university's decision for the men's basketball team not to participate in any postseason games this season, including the ACC tournament.
The NCAA said the violations, which were self-reported by Syracuse and dated back to 2001, included academic misconduct, extra benefits, failure to follow the drug-testing policy and impermissible booster activity.
Other violations included impermissible academic assistance and services, Boeheim's failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance and monitor his staff, and the school's lack of control over its athletics program.
As a result of the vacated wins, Boeheim -- who had needed only 34 wins to join Duke's Mike Krzyzewski in the 1,000-win club -- is left with 858, which drops him to sixth on the all-time list.
Boeheim must sit out the first nine ACC games of the 2015-16 season. He plans to appeal his suspension, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told ESPN.com senior writer Andy Katz.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
