Hopkins to replace Boeheim

Andy Katz broke the story this afternoon. I'm in favor of it.

First, ask yourself this question: if you could have any coach at Syracuse right now, who would you choose? To me the answer is a no-brainer - Jim Boeheim. Yes, there are probably better game coaches out there. There are also probably better recruiters out there. But Boeheim is still a hall of famer when you combine those two categories. And in the most important category, is the coach a match for the school, Boeheim is perfect. He loves the area. He loves the school. He IS the basketball program. If you think that the SU program would be better with Coach K, Roy Williams, or whoever, you're crazy.

So I say, if it's not Boeheim, let's go with a guy most likely to be Jim Boeheim II. That's Mike Hopkins. He'll stick with the 2-3 zone, because that's the only thing he's ever known. And he's already a fantastic recruiter.

If Hop's a catastrophe, THEN you go in a different direction. I don't think Syracuse basketball will have trouble hiring a big name even if the program slips a bit after Boeheim leaves.

Of course, the question is how long will Hopkins have to wait? Boeheim is 63 right now. (I know, it's always crazy to read that, isn't it?) He hasn't said anything about retiring any time soon, but this will certainly increase the times he'll have to field the question. He's still reeling in the recruiting classes. I think he wants to make one more trip to the championship before he's done. But is he really going to keep going to 70? I'll put the over/under at 5 years. And yes, I think we'll go to the Final Four once in that time.
_________________________________________

After I wrote that, something else occurred to me. Boeheim and Jim Calhoun are currently tied for win total. What if they're waiting each other out so they can be ahead on the final list? Jim Calhoun just turned 65 on May 10. And honestly, I think Boeheim, after a rough start, is aging a little bit better than his counterpart...