FanHouse Jim Boeheim

In his 34 years as Syracuse's head coach -- even during the years when his face was one of those synonymous with Big East basketball, not even when he won a long-awaited national championship -- never was Jim Boeheim the type to dwell for long on his own accomplishments. On Monday night, when he earned his 800th career victory over Albany at the Carrier Dome, he was quoted in the Syracuse Post Standard this way: "I guess there's a 'wow' factor, winning 800. But then, it's not like playing golf with Tiger Woods. I mean, that's a real 'wow' factor.''

Boeheim playing down his feat was as expected as was his reference to his other favorite sport. But is it really possible to look at 800 victories, all at one school, with that school being his alma mater, and not greet it with at least a 'wow'?

If the fact that only seven other coaches with at least 10 years in Division I have done it doesn't elicit that reaction, then consider some of the legends who either have not gotten there yet, or never got there at all.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- Jim Boeheim became the eighth Division I coach to reach 800 wins with the latest milestone a 75-43 victory over Albany on Monday night in the 2K Sports Classic.

The 65-year-old Boeheim got his first victory, 75-48 over Harvard on Nov. 26, 1976.

Bob Knight leads the career list with 902 victories. Only Mike Krzyzewski (833), Jim Calhoun (804) and Boeheim are active among the eight who have reached 800.

Arinze Onuaku scored 14 points, Scoop Jardine and Wes Johnson each had 12 for Syracuse (1-0) in the tournament that benefits Coaches vs. Cancer.

There could have been bigger upsets Tuesday night. Mike Bloomberg could have lost the New York mayor's job to Stephon Marbury. Or "The Jay Leno Show" could have won its time slot.

If you were caught up watching those returns, you may have missed the biggest upset in the history of mankind, or at least New York.

Move over, Joe Willie. Step aside, Miracle on Ice.

Give it up for Le Moyne!

Le Who?

---

---

NEW YORK -- Whether it was Villanova's Final Four trip last season or his bench demeanor, Wildcats coach Jay Wright has made a big impression on a majority of the Big East players.

Wright was the top vote-getter in FanHouse's poll of the league's players asking which coach, other than their own, they would like to play for. Wright, who received 29.7 percent of the votes, edged Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, with 24.3 percent.

Two weeks ago at the Big East's media day, FanHouse polled 37 players representing all 16 schools that attended Madison Square Garden on a variety of subjects. The players were guaranteed anonymity for their responses with only one stipulation: they could not vote for their coach, a teammate or their school in any of the categories.

While the players voted for Wright as the coach they would like to play for, Seton Hall's Bobby Gonzalez (24.3 percent) edged UConn's Jim Calhoun (21.6 percent) as the "opposing coach that screams the most."

Since Carmelo Anthony was selected in the 2003 NBA draft, he regularly has been compared to LeBron James.

But Anthony has gotten some bragging rights. James doesn't have a building named after him.

Anthony does. The Denver Nuggets star forward is scheduled to be on hand Sept. 24 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Syracuse's Carmelo Anthony Center.

"Everyone's going to just call it the Melo Center," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said Friday in an interview with FanHouse.

In an effort to talk about something college basketball-related other than scandals in the summer, let's talk best current coaches. We'll attempt to order the top 25 current coaches in the nation. This is about the present and the future, not the distant past. What a guy did in the mid-90s doesn't matter near as much as the direction his program is currently headed. Past pedigree also matters, to an extent. For the perfect mix of past accomplishments with present achievement and a paved road for future success, look no further than the man atop the list.

It started at Sonny Vaccaro's ABCD Basketball Camp, a camp, yes, but also a meet-and-greet for street agents and young, impressionable kids. Street agents, runners, slimeball AAU coaches all start getting their hands on our kids early, and ...

"The only problem I have is the word 'slime,' '' Vaccaro said. "A lot of what you say is right. But why is that word only connected to AAU? You've got to define what that means and who you're talking about. When you say slime, that envelopes everybody."

Yes, OK. Well, Rodney Guillory met 15-year old basketball phenom O.J Mayo at the camp in 2003.

When it comes to predicting the early favorites for next season, the usual approach is to look at which teams appear to be coming back loaded with talent and ended the season playing well. Syracuse seemed to fit that bill.

They were poised to bring back their entire starting line-up, one of their top recruits from last year -- Mookie Jones -- was injured so he will be able to help, plus another top-20 recruiting class. Of course that depended on no one leaving early. With the encouragement of coach Jim Boeheim, point guard Jonny Flynn will be checking his status in the NBA draft -- without hiring an agent. Paul Harris and Eric Devendorf, at first blush, appear to just be leaving.

When it comes to predicting the early favorites for next season, the usual approach is to look at which teams appear to be coming back loaded with talent and ended the season playing well. Syracuse seemed to fit that bill.

They were poised to bring back their entire starting line-up, one of their top recruits from last year -- Mookie Jones -- was injured so he will be able to help, plus another top-20 recruiting class. Of course that depended on no one leaving early. With the encouragement of coach Jim Boeheim, point guard Jonny Flynn will be checking his status in the NBA draft -- without hiring an agent. Paul Harris and Eric Devendorf, at first blush, appear to just be leaving.

There was not going to be an answer for Blake Griffin. Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku did everything they could. Jackson in particular player a very tough first half, but Griffin was just too much, as he has been for everybody all year, and Jim Boeheim doubtless knew he would be before the game ever began.

Thing is, Syracuse could have survived an unstoppable Griffin if it had been able to do something else exceptionally well. Something they'd done all year. Something that takes place far away from the spot on the court where Griffin spends most of his time. Yeah, that's right. We're talking about 3-point shooting.

---

---