During Wednesday’s ACC Tournament game between the Syracuse Orange and Florida State Seminoles, SU star Buddy Boeheim seemingly punched FSU’s guard Wyatt Wilkes following a tussle underneath the basket. Wilkes was visibly hurt and clutched at his chest as Boeheim ran off. Wilkes was forced to leave the game but no foul was called on Boeheim.
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Plenty of people watching at home started calling for a suspension of Boeheim. After the game, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, who also happens to be Buddy’s dad, defended the move, calling the inadvertent.
“The kid pushed him twice and he swung around and hit him,” Coach Boeheim said after the game. “I think it was inadvertent, but that’s okay. I just watched the play.”
Buddy issued an apology after the game, saying that he “swung his arm,” that he apologized for it, and that he would “not react that way again.”
Still, the ACC decided that the incident warranted punishment and they suspended him one game, which means he’s missing Thursday’s ACC Tournament game against the No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils. Given that Boeheim led the Orange in scoring on the season, it’s a huge blow to their already slim chances of winning.
While we are sure to hear from the elder Boeheim after the game to discuss the situation further, he did discuss the suspension in a radio interview with Matt Park on TK99 beforehand, saying that while Buddy should have received a flagrant 1 for the incident, he didn’t deserve to be suspended.
New story: Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim addressed Buddy Boeheim's one-game suspension on the radio for the first time ahead of Thursday's game.
"They would never had punished him in another game, no matter what they say.”https://t.co/yQTrxPE2cA
— Mike Curtis (@MikeACurtis2) March 10, 2022
“I think if the officials would’ve called the play properly … then he would’ve been out of the game and we were up 18. We would’ve won the game, so now he’d be playing today,” Boeheim said. “They would never have punished him for another game, no matter what they say.
“They gave the maximum penalty to the kid that deserves better and we’ll just go out and do the best we can. That’s all we can do at this stage. I think it’s disappointing for the league. I think it’s a disappointing call and I don’t think it’s a call that had to be made.”
Regardless of the outcome of Thursday’s game, get ready for some fireworks afterward as Jim Boeheim goes to bat for his son.
