Jim Boeheim Reacts to Dior Johnson's Decommitment

Syracuse's head coach indirectly discusses class of 2022 point guard's recruitment.

Mike McAllister | Nov 12, 2020

Jim Boeheim Reacts to Dior Johnson's Decommitment /

Tuesday evening, Dior Johnson and Syracuse parted ways. While coaches are not permitted, per NCAA rules, to comment on a specific recruit, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim was asked about Johnson during a virtual press conference on Thursday. This was his response.

"Let me just explain something about recruiting," Boeheim said. "We didn't commit anybody in that class. We did not commit anybody in the class of 22. At any point in time. That means me committing to somebody. That never happened. What kids do out there is taking as reality in the media, and it's not reality. We have recruited several players in the class of 22, have been recruiting several. Some we're not recruiting that people think we're recruiting. That's just part of recruiting. We can't talk about recruits, so you don't know who we're recruiting really. We've always felt that there were some really good players in 22. That's when we'll lose some wing players, Buddy, Alan. We'll definitely need backcourt help. And we're interested in people in the backcourt who are going to want to be here. Aren't thinking about the NBA. Are not really more NBA than here.

"We know guys want to be in the NBA, but as long as guys want to come to college and come into college, that's what we want. If it's one year, that's fine. But most all the guys we're recruiting, all of the guys we're recruiting in fact, want to go college. Are going to go to college, and probably stay more than one year. That's good. Now if a player can go, that's, we didn't ever think Tyler Ennis would go after one year, but he had a great year and he went. That was good for him, good for us. Not as good for us but it was really good for him. But we haven't lost anybody that I committed to come to Syracuse. What players do, what kids do, that's their own business. They can announce things or do things, that's fine. But we're interested in some really good players in that class that can come in and help us. I've made it very clear to them I'm coaching."

Published Nov 12, 2020

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.