Jim Boeheim continues beef with Syracuse reporter by mocking his height

Jordan Heck

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Jim Boeheim continues beef with Syracuse reporter by mocking his height image

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim criticized a reporter during his post-game press conference Wednesday night.

Boeheim, coming off a 64-54 win over Clemson, was asked a harmless question by The Athletic's Matthew Gutierrez about the defensive development of players Quincy Guerrier and Alan Griffin. Boeheim started with a typical response, and then delved into insults.

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Here is the exchange:

Gutierrez: "Hey Jim, just wanted to ask you on Quincy and Alan, if you could expand a little bit on their defensive growth. Especially in the last couple of games, and what Quincy and Alan have been able to do as defensive guys on the wing. It seems like they've balanced getting out to shooters ...."

Boeheim: "I think they're getting better, they still make some mistakes and that's normal. But I think they're getting better, I think our guards are rotating really well. Our guards did an unbelievable job tonight. They were the key. They got to the shooters. They got right to the shooters from the very beginning, didn't let them get comfortable. ... I think our whole team has gotten better, but it hasn't been as good as we needed it all year. But I think we have gotten better as a team. I think it's hard to go 9-7 in this league. This is a difficult league. Very difficult. I think these guys have done a great job this year."

After a brief pause, and a moment where the moderator was even about to advance to the next question, Boeheim then mocked Gutierrez.

"But if I played Jesse (Edwards) and Kadary (Richmond) we'd probably be 22-2 now," Boeheim said. "I just didn't see that, I couldn't figure that out by myself after 45 years. I needed a reporter to figure that out who's never played basketball and is 5-foot-2."

Gutierrez didn't offer much of a response other than just reporting what happened.

While the interaction seemed random on the surface, there is a bit of history before Wednesday night's exchange.

Boeheim had another sharp response to Gutierrez earlier this month when the reporter asked about Edwards after a game against North Carolina.

Here is that exchange:

Gutierrez: "Hey Jim, just wanted to ask about Jesse Edwards against maybe the best frontcourt in the ACC. It was a really productive night for him. Was this something you felt he was capable of earlier in the year or did he need ..."

Boeheim: "Yeah, I didn't play him, but I thought he was ready then. I just purposefully kept him out. What kind of question is that? ... He's still not ready. He's not ready, but he hung in there and battled. He did some good things, but he's got to get stronger, and if he was ready earlier in the year he would've been playing earlier in the year."

Gutierrez also had this tweet during that game, which is seemingly what Boeheim brought up Wednesday night.

Gutierrez then said he and the coach had a discussion about the question the day after.

The moral of the story: Jim Boeheim doesn't like his coaching decisions second-guessed by reporters. Especially if they're under 6 feet tall.

Jordan Heck

Jordan Heck Photo

Jordan Heck is a Social Media Producer at Sporting News. Before working here, he was a Digital Content Producer at The Indianapolis Star. He graduated with a degree from Indiana University.