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Jimmy Boeheim Discusses Facing His Former Team, Cornell

The Syracuse basketball forward spent three seasons with the Big Red.

Syracuse knocked off Cornell Wednesday night 80-68. One of the top storylines heading into the game was surrounding one player, Jimmy Boeheim. Jimmy spent his first three seasons at Cornell, but elected to transfer to Syracuse for his final season after the school cancelled the 2020-21 season due to the pandemic. The storyline was about Jimmy facing his former team. 

He performed well in the game, scoring 16 points on 8-12 shooting to go along with seven rebounds. After the game, Jimmy spoke to the media and the first question was, while predictable, the one that was on everyone's mind. What was it like facing Cornell?

"Oh man," Jimmy said. "You try to treat it like any other game but it was definitely a little weird. There's a little more, you know, you want to make sure you get that win and stuff. It was weird. I've got a lot of love for that program and everyone on that sideline. It wasn't like it was a revenge game or anything like that. I've seen people talk about that, but it wasn't that at all. Like I said, a lot of love for that program and those guys. They helped me become the player I am now. Couldn't be happier where I am now, here, back home at Syracuse. But yeah, it was a little weird but it was fun." 

During his time at Cornell, Jimmy Boeheim was one of the Big Red's best players. He averaged 16.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game as a junior during the 2019-20 season. With Syracuse this season, he is averaging 14.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, but has improved his three point shooting from 29.5% to 43.8%.