Former Syracuse Orange men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim often complained about the media when in that role, but he now looks set to take a larger media role. Following his retirement from that coaching role after the Orange lost in the 2023 ACC Tournament in March, Boeheim took on more of a role with Galaxy Media Partners, a company he has an ownership stake in that owns 13 upstate New York radio stations (including ESPN Radio Syracuse). And now, Jon Rothstein reported Wednesday that Boeheim is finalizing deals to work for ESPN and SiriusXM (for the NCAA Tournament in the latter case) this coming season:
NEWS: Former Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim is finalizing an agreement to join ESPN for the 2023-24 college basketball season, according to a source.
Boeheim will also work for Westwood One as a radio analyst during the 2024 NCAA Tournament.https://t.co/XfHeSVu5o9
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 18, 2023
Here’s more from Rothstein’s piece at College Hoops Today:
Former Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim is finalizing an agreement to join ESPN for the 2023-24 season, a source told College Hoops Today.
There is no timetable on an official announcement.
Boeheim’s role with ESPN is expected to include work on both games and studio.
Boeheim will also join Westwood One as a radio analyst for the 2024 NCAA Tournament and could do some additional games during Championship Week, according to a separate source.
As noted above, this isn’t Boeheim’s first media role. Galaxy CEO Ed Levine posted after that retirement in March that Boeheim would be “appearing regularly across the Galaxy Media Partners multiple platforms beginning next season. (That post also came around the announcement of ESPN Radio Syracuse firing long-time host Brent Axe, with Levine saying Axe was “overly dark and negative” on the Orange; Axe has since said he thinks that move came “to appease” Boeheim.)
So it’s certainly notable to see Boeheim continue to lean into media work. And that’s also interesting considering his many tense interactions with media over the years, including this year. Boeheim will now seemingly be part of what he’d long railed against.
It’s also interesting to see the 78-year-old Boeheim take on this much work, and this much of a national spotlight, in his retirement. A lot of people much younger than that have been content to just withdraw from the spotlight altogether. But Boeheim seemingly wants to stay involved in the college basketball world. And it will be worth keeping an eye on how his media work is received.
