Syracuse's Boeheim finally wins that elusive title

NEW ORLEANS -- Jim Boeheim finally got those four seconds back. And they were about the sweetest four seconds of his life.

Sixteen years after Keith Smart's baseline jumper with :04 left gave Indiana a 74-73 victory over the Orangemen in the national championship game, Boeheim guided Syracuse to a heartstopping 81-78 victory Monday night over Kansas to win that elusive first national title on the third try.

When the final horn sounded, Boeheim's trademark scowl turned into a wide grin. He raised his arms in triumph, having validated his insistence on using a 2-3 zone defense - a defense of which he is the master and which most coaches disdain.

Boeheim's resume now is crammed with 653 victories, 22nd all-time, and his .742 winning percentage is third among active Division I coaches. He's the longest-tenured coach at the same school, having coached the Orangemen for 27 years.

Not bad for a walk-on who had to talk his way onto the team when he arrived at Syracuse in 1962. By the time he was a senior, he was starting in the backcourt alongside Hall of Famer Dave Bing.

After four years of minor-league basketball, he returned to the Syracuse bench as a graduate assistant in 1969 and has been there ever since. He was appointed head coach in 1976 with a first contract that paid him $28,000.

"It's the only thing I know," he said after the Orangemen eliminated Auburn in the East Regional semifinals. "I don't like change. I've gone to the same barber since I was 17. I'm comfortable where I'm comfortable."

It was Syracuse's third trip to the title game under Boeheim; the Orangemen also lost to Kentucky 76-67 in 1996.

This may have been his best coaching job ever. Older, wiser and more mellow than ever with three young children at home, Boeheim molded a team that started two freshmen and two sophomores into a winner.

And despite guiding the Orangemen to an 11-1 record at the start of the season, he also managed to incorporate freshman guard Billy Edelin into the lineup. That decision he called the hardest in his career because it meant the lone senior on the team, Kueth Duany, would lose minutes.

That Edelin even stayed with the program is a testament to the way Boeheim runs it. He has had Bernie Fine as his top assistant for his entire time at Syracuse. Mike Hopkins, another assistant, was a team captain for Boeheim in the early 1990s.

Edelin endured a one-year suspension by the university and a 12-game NCAA suspension at the start of the season, then became a key reserve for the team in the tournament.

Along with such talented players as freshmen Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara, Boeheim incorporated sophomore Josh Pace into the lineup. He, too, became a solid contributor.

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