The dust has settled on the storm of excrement created by the most-senior coach in the ACC over the weekend.
Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim hurled NIL-based accusations at Wake Forest, Pittsburgh and Miami in a story published late Saturday night on ESPN.
Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes addressed the situation via Zoom on the ACC coaches teleconference on Monday morning.
“Listen, there’s very few people that respect Coach more than I do. He knows that, I’ve said it publicly,” Forbes said when asked if he considers the matter closed.
Forbes went on to say he was watching a Netflix show after watching the UNC-Duke game on Saturday night — after the Deacons returned from a win at Notre Dame — when his “life got interrupted there for a while.”
Later that night — technically Sunday morning — came contact from Boeheim.
“Coach reached out to me around 2:30 in the morning, us coaches stay up late,” Forbes said. “I’m fine with Coach, man. I like him, I respect him, I think the world of him. So, I’m fine.
“I’m not here to perpetuate the narrative of what occurred on Saturday.”
Now that that’s taken care of, a recap:
On Saturday night, a story from Pete Thamel of ESPN was published about the 78-year-old Boeheim leaning toward returning for next season. Within it, he levied accusations that Miami, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest — all three of them ahead of Syracuse in the ACC standings and having had success in the transfer portal — having “bought” their teams.
It was done within the context of the climate of college basketball and college sports in general, as the NCAA’s opening of pandora’s box that athletes could profit off their names, images and likenesses has led to pay-for-play schemes.
The reaction played out over Twitter late Saturday night and into Sunday morning.
Before his appearance on the coaches teleconference, Boeheim issued a statement:
“I would like to clarify remarks I made in a conversation I had with a media member following our game on Saturday evening. I apologize to the schools I mentioned. I believe the ACC member institutions are in compliance with NCAA rules governing Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). It was not my intention to imply otherwise,” Boeheim’s statement read.
Pitt coach Jeff Capel confirmed that he’d also heard from Boeheim since the story’s publication, but that he would have no further comment and that the conversation would remain private.
Miami is the interesting piece of this, as the Hurricanes have publicly had NIL dealings. Two of the transfers on the market last spring, Nijel Pack from Kansas State and Norchad Omier from Arkansas State, signed with Miami amid superfan and booster John Ruiz claiming they’d signed six-figure NIL deals.
Coach Jim Larranaga wasn’t on the Monday teleconference because his team is playing host to Duke tonight (coaches with Monday night games aren’t required to be on the teleconference).
