Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim turns 63 in November. It will be his 32nd season as the Orange coach. There are no signs that Boeheim is planning to retire. This spring, however, there has been some wondering about who will be the person to succeed Boeheim when he calls it a day. The obvious choice has been Syracuse assistant and former player/team captain, Mike Hopkins. Since joining the coaching staff in 1995, he has been an excellent recruiter. He has been credited with recruiting Gerry McNamara, Hakim Warrick, Demetris Nichols, Paul Harris and Jonny Flynn. Hopkins turned down head coaching opportunities in the last few seasons, as the 37-year-old coach has become one of the hotter assistants in the Northeast.
Syracuse and Boeheim, apparently, have decided that the whispering on the recruiting trail as to how much longer he will be coaching is getting louder. They also don't want to risk Hopkins getting too good of an opportunity that has him leaving. ESPN.com and the Syracuse Post-Standard are reporting that Mike Hopkins, indeed will be named -- and it will be put in writing -- the successor to Boeheim when he does step down.
The source said there was still no formal contract between the university and Hopkins, but that the two parties have "agreed to agree."Such a contract really has little meaning, except to try and stop the negative recruiting and project an image of stability that will continue at Syracuse. Since there is no time frame, other than when Boeheim chooses to retire, the contract is lacking a defined time frame.
"It's just a matter of getting everyone together," the source said.
