Coach of the Year

After thirty-some consecutive seasons with twenty or more wins; after more than 800 career wins; after three visits to the championship game; and seven years after having won it all, Coach Boeheim was voted the consensus coach of the year. It’s about time.

The thing I’ve felt about Boeheim for years is that he was overrated as a recruiter, and underrated as a coach. From all his teams over the years, how many guys have gone on to become NBA all-stars? I know we had good talent on that 1987 team that lost in the final seconds; and everyone can see just how great a player Melo is. But aside from those two teams, who has starred for the Orange over the course of Boeheim’s career? Lazarus Sims, and John Wallace were a great inside-outside duo, and they managed to take the Cuse into the final minute against Kentucky, but there wasn’t even an NBA journeyman on that team. Lawrence Moten, Roosevelt Bouie, Preston Shumpert, Wendell Alexis, even the beloved Gerry McNamara -- all great college players, but no NBA stats on their resumes. Still, often playing against teams stacked with future NBA stars, Boeheim’s Orange have enjoyed consistent success for three decades.

And now, toward the end of his career, and thanks in large part to Bobby Knight, Boeheim is at last recognized for being a genius defensive coach. And if you think about it, that two-three zone has been his great equalizer over the years. It’s what allowed the Orange to shut down teams with superior talent, to keep games close so that a John Wallace three-ball could propel them into the regional finals. It’s what enabled the Orange to win four games on four consecutive nights, capturing the Big East tournament against long odds. It’s what has confused teams from the Big Twelve, or the SEC when we’ve had a chance to see them in the post-season.

We all want another championship on the resume. But the accolades coach B received for taking an unranked team all the way to a number one seed in the NCAA tournament, and for getting us back to the sweet sixteen, even with a banged up and undermanned roster, were a fitting recognition for a long and remarkably successful career. We’ve taken this for granted year after year. The seniors graduate; the stars declare early for the draft; the team gets no respect in the pre-season polls; and then by January the Orange are back in the top twenty and fighting for a decent seed in the tournament. Let’s hope we get to see some more of that before he passes the torch to Hopkins, or McNamara, or whomever is next in line.