Last week, Syracuse Orange men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim made headlines when he appeared to question the recruiting and NIL tactics of several different ACC programs. And even though Boeheim clarified his words and apologized, the ACC appears to be addressing the incident to all its coaches.
In a memo obtained by On3, the ACC addressed recent “unacceptable conduct” and “public comments that are not in line with the ACC’s Sportsmanship Principle” its athletic directors, men’s and women’s basketball head coaches, and women’s basketball committee members.
“This memorandum is in regards to observations the conference office has made over the last two weeks of the 2022-23 ACC men’s and women’s basketball seasons,” stated the memo, which was addressed from commissioner Jim Phillips. “Specifically, this pertains to unacceptable conduct during and after games, and public comments that are not in line with the ACC’s Sportsmanship Principle.
While the memo doesn’t specifically single out Jim Boeheim and mentions “several incidents,” it was sent just 36 hours after his controversial comments, making it quite clear what promoted the memo.
“We have observed several incidents of conduct that take attention away from the most positive aspects of our games and are in violation of the sportsmanship policy creating a negative image of our teams and our Conference,” the memo stated. “The negative conduct and comments reflect a lack of awareness and consideration of others – and our coaches must have a higher degree of responsibility and accountability. … Our basketball programs are drawing significant media coverage and some of what has been taking place during the postgame is both troubling as well as distracting from the achievements by the student-athletes and the games themselves.”
It’s clear that Boeheim is on thin ice with the conference after these recent comments.
[On3]
