LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION honoring Jim Boeheim upon the occasion of his
800th career win as Head Coach of the Syracuse University Men's Basket-
ball Team

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to recognize and
commend those illustrious individuals of distinguished purpose whose
lives have been committed to the pursuit of excellence and who bring
great pride to the citizens of this great Empire State; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, it is the intent of this Legislative Body to honor
Jim Boeheim upon the occasion of his 800th career win as Head Coach of
the Syracuse University Men's Basketball Team; and
WHEREAS, Jim Boeheim is an Upstate New York native from the Wayne
County town of Lyons; he began his career with the Syracuse University
Men's Basketball Team as a walk-on player in 1962 and by the time he was
a senior, he had become a co-captain and led his team to the NCAA Tour-
nament for the second time in school history; and
WHEREAS, After graduating from Syracuse University, Jim Boeheim had a
brief professional playing career until he turned his focus to coaching
when he joined the Syracuse Men's Basketball coaching staff as a gradu-
ate assistant in 1969; and
WHEREAS, Jim Boeheim was named Head Coach of the Syracuse Orange at
the start of the 1976-1977 season, and he obtained his first career
victory with a win over Harvard on November 26, 1976; and
WHEREAS, Thirty-three years later, on November 9, 2009, in front of a
home crowd at the Syracuse University Carrier Dome, Syracuse defeated
the SUNY Albany Great Danes to open the 2009-2010 regular season, and
secured Coach Boeheim's 800th career victory; and
WHEREAS, In winning his 800th game, Jim Boeheim became just the eighth
coach in NCAA history to obtain 800 victories and is one of only three
active coaches to reach the 800-win milestone; in addition, he is also
one of only four coaches to win 800 games at just one school; and
WHEREAS, Jim Boeheim has proved he is one of the greatest coaches of
all time by leading all of his teams to a winning record, including 31
seasons with 20 or more wins; by securing his 31st 20-win season with a
28-10 finish last year, Coach Boeheim passed Dean Smith to become the
coach with the most 20-win or better seasons in men's college basketball
history; and
WHEREAS, Coach Boeheim is also the winningest coach in Big East
Conference history, with 356 conference wins, which includes five Big
East Conference Tournament championships and seven Big East Conference
regular season championships; he has also been named Big East Coach of
the year three times; and
WHEREAS, Under Coach Boeheim's direction, Syracuse University has made
it to the post-season 32 times, including 26 trips to the NCAA Tourna-
ment where they made appearances in three championship games; in 2003,
Coach Boeheim led the Syracuse Orange to its first ever NCAA National
Championship Title with an 81-78 victory over the University of Kansas
Jayhawks; and
WHEREAS, On February 24, 2004, Syracuse University honored Coach
Boeheim for his coaching success by naming the Carrier Dome Court, Jim
Boeheim Court; he was honored on a national level in 2001 when he was
named National Coach of the Year by USA Basketball, and again in Septem-
ber of 2005 when he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball
Hall of Fame; and
WHEREAS, In November of 2005, Jim Boeheim continued to add to his Hall
of Fame resume when he was named as an Assistant Coach for the USA

Basketball Men's National Team for a three-year term; his coaching
expertise helped lead Team USA to an undefeated record in the 2008 Olym-
pics, culminating in a 118-107 victory over Spain in the gold medal
game; in addition, he not only helped Team USA win a gold medal, but
also to restore pride and respect in American basketball; and
WHEREAS, Jim Boeheim is someone to be admired for his entire career,
not only because he has served as a great coach, but also for being a
first class person; he has always handled himself with class and dignity
in the face of adversity, and he also deserves to be commended for being
a great community leader, by making selfless contributions to numerous
charity organizations, including Coaches vs. Cancer, for which Jim and
his wife, Juli have been top fundraisers, nationwide, for many years;
now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to pay
tribute to Jim Boeheim on his 800th career victory, thank him for his
contributions to basketball and the Central New York community, and to
wish him continued success in the future; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to Coach Jim Boeheim.