Jim Boeheim was never shy about weighing in on officiating during his 46 seasons as a head coach. He’s continued that in his broadcasting work for ACC Network, most recently making it quite clear how he disagreed with the controversial ending of the Pitt-Notre Dame ACC Tournament game Tuesday.
There, the Panthers’ Zack Austin was called for a foul while going for the rebound of a last-second shot from Markus Burton of the Fighting Irish. That let Notre Dame’s Tae Davis go to the foul line, and he hit one of two shots to give the Irish a 55-54 win. And Boeheim and fellow analyst Cory Alexander, as well as play-by-play voice Wes Durham, had plenty of critiques of the call both before and after those shots from Davis:
Notre Dame beats Pitt 55-54 in the ACC Tournament first round… on a very controversial call.
ACC Network’s Wes Durham, Cory Alexander, and Jim Boeheim couldn’t believe it. 🏀🦓🎙️ #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/1TycuOrLKb
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 11, 2025
That starts with Boeheim saying “No foul,” with Durham adding “If the foul was called, I don’t think you can take that away,” and Boeheim agreeing with “No, you can’t, but there is no foul.” Alexander later says “I hate to see this game end at the free-throw line, if these free throws win it for Notre Dame, especially how physical this game has been played.”
Boeheim then asks “I mean, was there any contact?” and Alexander says “I don’t think there was enough to make that call at that time, especially when the consequences of not making it are you just go to overtime and play another five minutes.” Davis then makes his first shot, and Boeheim says “That’s just not a good way to end it.”
Davis then misses his second shot, and Durham narrates the ending. That includes him saying “Just a crushing way for Pitt’s 15th loss of the year.” Alexander says “I hate seeing that this game ended like that, that’s how Zack Austin’s career ends, Ishmael Leggett’s career ends like that. Tony Henderson’s a great official, but I think they got that call wrong,” and Boeheim says “No, you can’t make that call!”
It’s certainly unusual to see that level of on-broadcast criticism of officiating, and perhaps especially so on a conference network. But Boeheim’s always been known for saying what he thinks, and that’s part of what’s helped this shift to broadcasting seem to work pretty well for him thus far.
