By JOSH NEWMAN
NEW YORK – In the face of NCAA sanctions, Syracuse announced on March 18 that Jim Boeheim will retire in three years.
At the age of 70 and entering his 40th season at the helm, maybe Boeheim retires after one or two more years instead of going the full three. At least one incoming recruit isn’t convinced the Hall of Famer is done in three years.
“We definitely want to send him out as a winner, but I don’t know if he’s gonna go in three years,” Trenton Catholic standout and four-star recruit Malachi Richardson told SNY.tv after scoring three points for the East in a 118-116 loss at the Jordan Brand Classic at Barclays Center. “That’s just my opinion. Coach Boeheim loves basketball, so him walking away from it? I just don’t see it.
“I’ve learned to know him. He’s a great coach and he really does love basketball. He loves Syracuse and I just don’t know if he can walk away from it that soon.”
If Boeheim is in fact done after the 2017-18 season, another Orange commit wants to make sure Boeheim leaves with another piece of hardware, if not more.
“I want to send him out a winner, I think we would all agree,” 6-foot-8 New Hampton Prep forward Tyler Lydon told SNY.tv after scoring 13 points on 6-for-6 shooting in the JBC Regional Game. “I would love to send him out with a championship, even a few if I could.”
Richardson, Lydon, and fellow-Regional Game participant and Pope John star Moustapha Diagne, are all bound for Central New York this summer. All three were forced to sit back last month as their future school was crushed by sanctions.
On March 6, the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions found that Syracuse did not control and monitor its athletics programs and that Boeheim “failed to monitor his program.”
In February, the school self-imposed a postseason ban for this season and won’t face future postseason bans, but it was hit very hard in other areas.
Penalties in this case, not including those self-imposed by the school, include five years of probation; financial penalties; reduction of three men’s basketball scholarships per year for four years; vacation of wins in which ineligible students participated; a nine conference-game suspension for Boeheim; and men’s basketball recruiting restrictions for two years.
“It was a tough process and it just sucks to hear all of that stuff,” Lydon said. “At the same time, I was just trying to focus on my season and high school and stuff like that. They gave me a call, they informed me about everything, so that was all good. I just tried to stay positive throughout the whole thing.
“I’m somebody that’s very loyal, my parents raised me to be that way. I didn’t really have any negative thoughts about my commitment to Syracuse.”
Richardson, Diagne, Lydon and Fairfax (Va.) Paul VI shooting guard Franklin Howard (who did not attend the game) all held strong on their commitments after the news broke. Together, they make up the fifth-ranked recruiting class in the country according to Rivals.com. Richardson is the highest-rated of the four at No. 30 and all four are in the top 80.
“I wasn’t too worried about it because I knew all of his would end up still going to Syracuse,” Richardson said. “I was definitely gonna stay there and I’m just glad we’ll be able to be in the [NCAA] Tournament. The loss of scholarships, it effects, but not really. I think we’ll be alright.”
Photo: Syracuse.com
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