Syracuse Basketball: 20 Greatest Players to Play for Head Coach Jim Boeheim

Jim Boeheim has built himself a Hall of Fame career at the University of Syracuse. Here are the greatest players he’s coached over the years.

For a college coach no matter what the sport is, their dream always is to lead their alma mater to the promise land. That was the case for Boeheim, who a decade after graduating came back to become the head coach of Syracuse.

Starting as an Independent, Boeheim led the team to the NCAA Tournament in his first three years in charge. And even after moving into the Big East, the Orange still received invitations to the Big Dance. It took 10 years until the program under Boeheim made the Final Four, which would be the first of five different trips.

In 2003 led by a star freshman, Syracuse won the National Championship, capping off a 30-win season. That victory cemented Boeheim’s legacy at both the program and nationally, with more accomplishments coming along the way.

The most impressive feats may have been the last few years, where the Orange has taken a couple of teams that barely made the tournament to make surprising deep runs. That legendary 2-3 defense zone still has yet to be solved, even after 30 years of scouting reports.

Not only is Boeheim an all-time great, he’s still one of the best currently around. I had him ranked No. 5 from my earlier piece concerning the best active head coaches, and have been ranking the top players for each of them throughout the month.

Now it’s Boeheim’s turn. And with 40 seasons worth of players to research and debate, it was a difficult task to put the top players in their right place. But I think I found a good balance between watching the players from this era and looking up the greats of the past. Who ends up No. 1 on this list?