Syracuse men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim questioned a journalist’s credibility based on his height and lack of basketball experience after a 64-54 home win over Clemson on Wednesday in the evening.
On Monday, Matthew Gutierrez, who treats Syracuse basketball for Athletic, tweeted that Orange would be “around 17-5 overall” and on the field in ’68 if reserves Jesse Edwards and Kadary Richmond had recorded more minutes. The duo combined to score 12 points in a 72-70 win over North Carolina that day.
Gutierrez tweeted Tuesday that he and Boeheim were “all right at it” after holding a conversation about their observations. On Wednesday, however, Boeheim appeared to respond to Gutierrez’s original tweet when asked after the game.
“But if I had played Jesse and Kadary, we would probably have 22-2 now,” Boeheim said after Wednesday’s win. “I just didn’t see it. I couldn’t figure it out for myself after 45. I need a journalist to figure it out … he’s never played basketball and he’s 5 feet and 2.”
Edwards (1.9 points per game) and Richmond (6.9 PPG) added up to add five points on Wednesday.
Syracuse is a bubble team that appears in the program “Next Four Out” by Joe Lunardi, a member of ESPN.
Wednesday night was not the first time Boeheim’s comments drew attention this season. Last month on his radio show, following freshman student Jalen Johnson’s decision to opt out of preparing for the NBA draft, Boeheim said the projected selection of the lottery “would hurt ”The Blue Devils, who had become a better team in their later games without him.
After facing criticism, including ESPN commentator Jay Bilas, Boeheim tried to back away from his comments.
“This is not a scatter, giving scatter to Jalen Johnson,” Boeheim said at a post-game press conference last month. “I haven’t even seen Jalen Johnson play this year, to be honest. He’s a tremendous player. He’s probably a great professional. I just made the statement, in my opinion, that I thought they played better without him in those two games. Jay Bilas said I said they were a better team without him, permanently. I didn’t say that. I didn’t mean that. “