Syracuse Men's Basketball Coach Suspended in Cheating Scandal

Jim Boeheim is one of the winningest coaches in men’s college basketball history, but many of those wins have now come under fire. The NCAA just released its decision in a case of rules violations against the Syracuse University athletics program.

Coach Boeheim will be banned from 9 ACC games. The entire program will be on probation for five years. The basketball program’s scholarships will be cut by three each of the next four seasons. The team will be fined $500 for each game played by an ineligible player over the years 2004-2007 and 2010-2012. Worst of all for Boeheim and Syracuse fans, all wins accrued during those years in which an ineligible player took part in the game will be vacated. Syracuse has also self-imposed a one-year post-season ban, which the NCAA has accepted.

This all comes after Syracuse self-reported 10 rules violations to the NCAA including academic misconduct, extra benefits, impermissable booster activity, and failure to adhere to the drug testing policy.

The NCAA released the following statement regarding the ban, “Over the course of a decade, Syracuse University did not control and monitor its athletics programs, and its head men’s basketball coach failed to monitor his program.”

The violations were a result of gross neglect and indifference on the part of the staff and students. “Improper institutional involvement and influence in a student’s academic work in order to gain or maintain eligibility is a violation of NCAA rules and a violation of the most fundamental core values of the NCAA and higher education. The behavior in this case, which placed the desire to achieve success on the basketball court over academic integrity, demonstrated clearly misplaced institutional priorities.”

The NCAA’s report accuses Boeheim of failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance with NCAA rules and monitor his staff. Lucky for Boeheim, the vacation of wins will not include his 2003 National Championship, which he won with star player Carmelo Anthony.