ESPN Ranked NCAA Tournament Coaches as Players, Including Jim Boeheim

See where the Syracuse head coach landed on the list.

Mike McAllister | Mar 16, 2021

ESPN Ranked NCAA Tournament Coaches as Players, Including Jim Boeheim /

ESPN put together a fun ranking of all 68 coaches in the NCAA Tournament. Not by how good of a coach they are historically or even this season. Rather, they were ranked based on how good of a player they were in their own right. That includes Syracuse head coach Jim Boehiem.

Boeheim was ranked 14th out of 68 coaches by ESPN. Here is what they had to say about the Orange head coach as a player:

"Boeheim played three seasons at Syracuse (1963-66), coming off the bench his first two seasons before becoming a starter as a senior. He averaged 14.6 points and 3.1 assists during the 1965-66 campaign, leading the Orange to the Elite Eight. Boeheim went on to play professionally with the Scranton Miners of the ABL."

Coaches ranked ahead of him, which means ESPN is saying they had better playing careers, include Wes Miller (UNC Greensboro), Shantay Legans (Eastern Washington), Matt Langel (Colgate), Mike White (Florida), Bob Huggins (West Virginia), Wayne Tinkle (Oregon State), Lon Kruger (Oklahoma), Cuonzo Martin (Missouri), Tony Bennett (Virginia), Mark Pope (BYU), Bryce Drew (Grand Canyon), Juwan Howard (Michigan) and Patrick Ewing (Georgetown).

Howard and Ewing were clear choices as the top two on the list. But what's interesting about the list is that you learn about several coaches' playing days taht you may have otherwise been unaware.

Most outside of Syracuse do not realize that Boeheim was a good player prior to becoming a coach. He played in 76 games during his three years with the Orange and shot 51.9% from the floor during his career.

Published Mar 16, 2021

MIKE MCALLISTER

Title: Publisher All Syracuse Education: Roberts Wesleyan College Location: Syracuse, New York Expertise: Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting. EXPERIENCE Mike McAllister has been covering Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting for more than a decade. Mike's career started with his own free blog as a way to vent following sporting events. Shortly thereafter, a network of basketball sites called Coast 2 Coast Hoops asked him to run their Syracuse site. That site was called Nation of Orange, and Mike quickly established it as a go-to for Syracuse fans. After running Nation of Orange for several months, a position with the Syracuse site on the Scout network became available. After one year as the recruiting expert with Cuse Nation, he was named the publisher. Mike oversaw the transition from Scout to 247Sports, and ran the site on that network for years. Presented with the opportunity to join one of the biggest names in the sports journalism industry, Sports Illustrated, Mike jumped at the chance. All Syracuse was started from scratch by Mike and the Fan Nation team. It has now become a staple for Orange fans of various sports. Mike has broken news on recruiting, Syracuse basketball and football team information and has established himself as the top recruiting inside in the market. He has appeared on local radio shows, television broadcasts, national radio shows and much more. Mr. McAllister has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Information Management from Roberts Wesleyan College.