Chris Carlson of Syracuse.com is reporting that Syracuse Orange Basketball coach Jim Boeheim's suspension has been upheld by the NCAA. HOWEVER, unlike previously issued, the suspension will not be for nine ACC Conference games, but rather 9 games starting immediately.
As in this weekend. Against Georgetown. And next weekend. In MSG. Against St. John's.
The NCAA announced the decision on their website this morning.
Boeheim will miss the following games: @Georgetown, Colgate, @St. John's, Cornell, Montana State, Texas Southern, @Pittsburgh, @Miami, Clemson. The home tilt against North Carolina will be his first game back.
Update: 12:45 pm:
"I think it's a good thing. I'm glad the infraction committee found that the original penalty was too harsh," Boeheim said. "But it's difficult to start it in just two days."
They gave us two days notice. 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.
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This is the TEXTBOOK definition on why the NCAA is a second rate organization. They try to slip this news past everyone, change the penalty and ultimately hurt the program more by not preparing anyone (unless Boeheim has known about this leading up, which he won't be allowed to talk about.)
This whole time, the process has felt personal, contrived, and about as half-assed as possible from the NCAA. Ensuring that Boeheim's penalties are basically personalized with missing this weekend is just further proof.
There are a lot of things I'm feeling and we're all feeling, but I'll let Jim Boeheim himself say how we all feel.
When we eventually win the Whole Damn Thing (TM) this year, I can't wait to see Boeheim just stick it to everyone.
