To Syracuse University men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim, 900 is just a number. But having Dave Bing in the house when he notched his 900th career win? Well, now that’s something special.
With Bing, his former teammate at SU, watching along with 17,901 other fans, Boeheim recorded the milestone as the Orange held on to defeat the University of Detroit Titans 72-68 Monday night, Dec. 17, at the Carrier Dome.
Boeheim, who’s is in 37th year as SU’s head coach, is just the third coach in Division I history to reach 900 wins. With three more wins—circle Dec. 31 against Central Connecticut at the Dome on your calendar—Boeheim will pass Bobby Knight and trail only Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (936 wins) on the all-time Division I list.
After getting win No. 899 on Dec. 15 against Canisius and again after Monday night’s game, Boeheim insisted that reaching 900 wins was not that important to him. But what did matter to Boeheim was that Bing, the current mayor of Detroit, took time out of his busy schedule to attend the game.
In fact, Boeheim said when he walked into the locker room before the game and saw Bing sitting here, it was “the first time I’ve been nervous since—a lot of time, anyway. He’s the best I’ve ever been around in all ways, on and off the court,” Boeheim said of Bing, SU’s most famous player and NBA Hall of Famer after playing with the Detroit Pistons. “He was a role model right away, and I wish I would have done all the things I should have done that he showed the way. He always knew how to do the right thing and be in the right situation all the time and make the right decision.”
Bing and Boeheim forged an unlikely friendship that has lasted a lifetime. Bing was a black kid from Washington, D.C., and the unquestioned star from the moment he walked on the court. Boeheim was a white kid from rural Lyons who had to make the team as a walk-on. They became roommates as sophomores and ignited a spark in SU basketball that has lasted 50 years.
“There’s no way, regardless of what’s going on back in Detroit, that I wouldn’t be here,” Bing said. “I wanted to be here to support him, I wanted to share this with him, because there were so many nights when we were roommates that we sat up and just talked and dreamed and had visions. I don’t think either one of us ever thought he’d be the coach and win 900 games, but here we are.”
Following the game, Boeheim thanked the
fans, received a framed “Boeheim 900” jersey from SU director of
athletics Daryl Gross, and watched a video tribute that included
comments from Bing, Krzyzewski,
Louisville coach and former Boeheim assistant Rick Pitino, ESPN broadcaster Dick Vitale, and others.
But despite all of the hoopla, Boeheim insisted it wasn’t as important as the No. 3-ranked Orange winning the game to improve to 10-0. “To me, it’s like, all right you retire, you won 780 games, you won 820. What’s the difference?” Boeheim said. “To me, honestly, absolutely it does not matter whether I won 800 or 700. The reason I’ve won 900 is I’ve stayed longer than I ever thought I would.
“But if I’d have left with 800, am I going to say, ‘Geez, I should have got 900?’ If I get 900, do I have to get more? To me, it just doesn’t make sense. That’s why it’s just not that important to me, because to me it’s just a number and the only number that matters is how this team does. Period. You’re either going to believe me or not going to believe me, but that’s the way I feel about it.”
If you really want to impress Boeheim, you’ll have to almost single-handedly resurrect a program that won only 14 of 54 games over three years and played before about 200 fans a game and transform it into an NCAA Tournament team that would remain among college basketball’s elite for 50 years. That’s what Bing did when he started playing for the Orange as a sophomore in 1963-’64 (at that time, freshman weren’t allowed to play varsity sports).
“He made Syracuse basketball. Syracuse basketball was nothing when Dave Bing came here,” Boeheim said. “He started it and got it going. A lot of players have stepped up since then, but he’s the guy that got it going.” And Boeheim, 68, has kept it going for the last 37 years.
“Nobody would have thought when we came here 50 years ago that either one of us would have the kind of success we’ve had,” Bing said. “But I’m so pleased and proud of him because he stuck with this, he’s had some great teams, and he’s proven he’s one of the best coaches ever in college basketball.”
No. 900 With a Bullet
Win No. 900 ended up being a little more difficult than it should have been. The Orange led Detroit 61-39 with 9½ minutes left, and it was about that time that the ushers started handing out Boeheim faces on sticks to the Carrier Dome faithful.
But they turned into long faces as the Titans cut the lead to 67-64 with 29.3 seconds remaining. SU point guard Michael Carter-Williams, who was born in October 1991 when Boeheim had just 370 or so victories, sank five of six free throws down the stretch to keep the Orange ahead.
“I’ve seen 700 {as a fan}, I was a part of 800 {as a player} and now I’m part of 900,” said SU senior guard Brandon Triche, who played at Jamesville-DeWitt High School and is the nephew of former SU star Howard Triche. “Just being here so long, he deserves it.
“I might be a little biased, but I think he’s one of the best coaches preparing for games, and he gets guys better through the course of four years,” Triche added. “He’s one of the best motivators. He’s sometimes tough on you, but through all four years he motivated me to become the player I am.”
From Roosevelt Bouie and Louie Orr to Triche and Carter-Williams, Boeheim has first and foremost always been able to attract top talent to Syracuse. That recruiting train keeps rolling as Boeheim has racked up the wins and moved up on the all-time victory list.
“It’s great to be a part of 900 wins and to be coached by such a great coach as him,” said SU redshirt freshman Trevor Cooney. “This is why we come to a program like Syracuse, to play games like this and to play for a great coach like him. Just to be a part of something historical is pretty awesome.”
Awesome, indeed. But not as awesome as having your role model watch your historic achievement. And while Boeheim might not think 900 wins is anything special, Bing understands what it means to Boeheim’s legacy.
“He may say it’s not about the numbers, the number of wins, but that’s the way he’s going to be remembered,” Bing said. “And there’s very few people who’ve done it better than him.”
Milestone Victories
Win Opponent (Coach) Season
100 97-83 vs. Villanova
(Rollie Massimino) 1979-80
150 92-81 at Seton Hall
(P.J. Carlisimo) 1982-83
200 94-62 vs. Seton Hall
(P.J. Carlisimo) 1984-85
250 99-72 vs. Louisville
(Denny Crum) 1986-87
300 105-63 vs. St. Francis, Pa.
(Jim Baron) 1988-89
350 113-99 vs. UNC Charlotte
(Jeff Mullins) 1990-91
92-86 (OT) vs. St. John’s
(Lou Carneseca) 1990-91 (Passed Lewis
Andreas to become SU’s all-time winningest coach)
400 89-81 vs. Miami
(Leonard Hamilton) 1992-93
450 76-75 vs. Georgetown
(John Thompson) 1994-95
500 92-62 vs. Rutgers (Bob Wenzel) 1996-97
550 60-43 vs. Princeton (Bill Carmody) 1999-00
600 79-69 vs. Hawaii (Riley Wallace) 2000-01
650 79-78 vs. Auburn (Cliff Ellis) 2002-03
700 91-66 vs. Providence (Tim Welsh) 2004-05
750 80-64 vs. San Diego State (Steve Fisher) 2006-07)
800 75-43 vs. Albany (Will Brown) 2009-10
850 63-52 vs. West Virginia (Bob Huggins) 2010-11
900 72-68 vs. Detroit (Ray McCallum) 2012-13
Where Boeheim Ranks in Division I
Wins
Mike Krzyzewski (Army, Duke) 936
Bob Knight (Army, Indiana, Texas Tech) 902
Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) 900
Dean Smith (North Carolina) 879
Adolph Rupp (Kentucky) 876
20-Win Seasons
Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) 34
Dean Smith (North Carolina) 30
Bob Knight (Army, Indiana Texas Tech) 29
Lute Olson (Iowa, Arizona) 29
Mike Krzyzewski (Army Duke) 28
Games
Mike Krzyzewski (Army, Duke) 1,227
Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) 1,203
Jerry Slocum (four schools) 1,125
Ben Braun (four schools) 1,079
Cliff Ellis (four schools) 1,038
NCAA Tournament Wins
Mike Krzyzewski (Army, Duke) 79
Dean Smith (North Carolina) 65
Roy Williams (Kansas, North
Carolina) 59
Jim Calhoun (Northeastern,
Connecticut) 49
Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) 48
And one more thing … Boeheim ranks 10th all-time in winning percentage at .748 (900-304).
