Syracuse HC Jim Boeheim Apologizes Again for NIL Comments About Pitt
PITTSBURGH -- He had just faced relentless jeers from the Oakland Zoo and other fans as his Syracuse Orange fell, 99-82 at the Petersen Events Center to the Pitt Panthers and Jim Boeheim had to yet again face questions about his comments from earlier in the month, in which he claimed that the Pitt Panthers had "bought" their current roster, one which has won 21 games this season and is in position to make an NCAA Tournament for the first time in
Boeheim said he believed he was speaking off the record when he told ESPN's Pete Thamel that Pitt and other schools in the ACC had used NIL money as a recruiting inducement for players from the transfer portal.
“It was a bad statement and I apologized for that," Boeheim said. "A lot of schools who got transfers through the portal used NIL money to do it and I didn’t mean - I was really talking about schools that got overlapped into Pitt. ... We talked about it and I was wrong but it wasn’t an interview. It was a walk down the hallway and it was recorded. I shouldn’t have done it but I did and I apologized for that."
Boeheim went on to say that he believes every players who changes schools using the transfer portal does get some kind of money from NIL deals.
"I’m sure every player - I’m not picking specific teams - but if you look at people who transferred in the transfer portal, a lot of them got NIL money, period," he said. "And that’s where I should have left it."
He said that he takes no issue with players making money. It is simply the new normal in college basketball, going hand in hand with the rise of the transfer portal, which has allowed teams to rebuild quickly and effectively. Boeheim still has his doubts but knows these changes aren't going anywhere.
"Maybe it’ll be better because it takes a team that would have had no chance and gives them a chance to be really good," Boeheim said. "Maybe that’s good for college basketball. I don’t know but maybe it is and that’s just the way it’s going to be. I think 1,700 guys transferred and 800 or 900 of them did worse where they transferred to. It’s good for some but not for others making those decisions. … I think it’s great. That’s what it’s going to be and there’s really not much that can be done about it to change it."
Boeheim added that it's been an effective strategy for Pitt and Jeff Capel, who was answering questions about his future as head coach. Boeheim joked that Panthers fans probably didn't see this coming either.
“Last year they were like, trying to get a new coach, weren’t they?”
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