Boeheim enrolled at Syracuse in 1962 and was a walk-on with the basketball team that year. By Boeheim’s senior season, he was a team captain along with the legendary Dave Bing. The Orange were 22-6 overall that year and earned the team’s second-ever NCAA Tournament berth. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in social science, Boeheim played professional basketball with Scranton of the Eastern League. He was a member of two championship squads and earned second-team all-star honors. In 1969 he turned to a career in coaching and was hired as a graduate assistant at SU by head coach Roy Danforth. He was soon promoted to a full-time assistant coaching post and was part of the staff that guided the Orangemen to the program’s first Final Four appearance in 1975. A year later he was appointed head coach at his alma mater. In his 29 years at the helm, the Orange has produced only winning records. SU has earned postseason berths (NCAA or NIT) in all but one of Boeheim’s seasons. He has pushed the Orangemen to three NCAA championship game appearances (1987, 1996 and 2003) and 24 NCAA tournament invitations in all. Boeheim guided the Orange to the ultimate finish in 2003, the NCAA Championship. Boeheim wrapped up his 29th season as head coach on the Hill with a 703-241 overall record. He ranked fifth among active Division I coaches in winning percentage and tied for sixth in victories. His 27 20-win campaigns place him in a second-place tie on the all-time Division I list. He is also eighth in Division I NCAA Tournament wins. On February 24, 2002 the University named the Carrier Dome court Jim Boeheim Court in recognition of his many accomplishments. Boeheim joined a select group of coaches working the sidelines of a court named after them. A three-time BIG EAST Coach of the Year, Boeheim has been honored as District II Coach of the Year 10 times by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). During the 2000 Final Four he was presented with the Claire Bee Award in recognition of his contributions to the sport. In the fall of 2000, he received Syracuse University’s Arents Award, the school’s highest alumni honor. In 2001 Boeheim led the USA Basketball Young Men’s Team to the gold medal at the World Championship in Japan. It marked his seventh year of USA Basketball coaching experience. That fall he was named USA Basketball 2001 National Coach of the Year. A champion of many charitable causes, Boeheim has been most active with “Coaches vs. Cancer,” a national fundraising organization. Boeheim’s local campaign has led all others in money raised for seven of the last eight years. He has also lent his time to Crouse Hospital Family Maternity Center, the Children’s Miracle Network, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Pioneer Center for the Blind and Disabled, Lighthouse, People in Wheelchairs, Easter Seals, the Special Olympics, the Rescue Mission and the Jack Bruen Fund. The Crouse Health Foundation chose Boeheim as its honoree for Tribute Evening 2003, the Foundation’s annual back tie fundraising gala. In May, he will receive the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center Inspiration Award from the University of Rochester Medical Center Jim and his wife, Juli, are parents of James Arthur Boeheim, III, and twins Jack and Jamie. Jim also has a daughter, Elizabeth.