NCAA Upholds Nine-Game Ban For Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim

On Wednesday, the NCAA upheld Syracuse Orange men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim‘s nine-game suspension. They did concede, however, to move the ban to the non-conference portion of the schedule. The original punishment was handed down in March, when an investigation found the athletic department had violated academic misconduct, benefit and drug testing policies.

That means Beoheim will begin serving his suspension at midnight before this weekend’s game against Georgetown. While the adjusted timing theoretically helps the program, the coach still isn’t happy about the timing of the announcement.

“They gave us two days’ notice,” Boeheim told ESPN. “If they were going to do this, why not six weeks ago? We’d been preparing to use the next few games and practices to prepare the coaching staff for what was going to happen. Now we have less than two days. It’s less than ideal. The players are in class. I can’t pull them out of class. They’re going to know from the public before they hear it from me.”

“It’ll be difficult, very difficult,” he continued. “I’ve missed three games in 40 years, and that’s when I was being treated for cancer. That’s it. It will be a very difficult process. We just have to work through it. The team will be all right. The coaches are prepared.”

Boeheim can return to the team for January 9’s game against North Carolina. In the meantime, he can’t contact his team in any manner, appear on his television or radio shows or even work in his Syracuse office.