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Jim Boeheim Acknowledges Next Season Could Be His Last As Syracuse Coach

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said Thursday that 2018 is the "right time" to retire, but he acknowledged that next season could be his last as he appeals NCAA sanctions for academic and benefits violations.

Speaking two hours before the start of the main games in the NCAA Tournament, Boeheim said some of the NCAA's allegations laid out in a scathing report earlier this month are inaccurate. He called the penalties "unduly harsh."

"This is far from a program where student-athletes freely committed academic fraud," Boeheim said.

Boeheim said his plan discussed with the university's chancellor is to retire after three more seasons, but that he will take things year by year and next season could be his last.

"There was no way I would ever run away from an investigation in progress," Boeheim said. "I had no plans to coach this long. This investigation has made it imperative."

Boeheim said retiring after his team reached the Final Four in 2012 would have been ideal, but the timing wasn't right.

"I love coaching, and you can coach as long as you can be effective. I thought I was effective this year. I don't think I was as good as I would have liked to have been, but I think I was effective," Boeheim said. "If I'm not effective at the end of next year, I won't coach after next year. The three-year thing is the outside."

Boeheim said he has told recruits he will be here next season but has no firm plans beyond that.

The NCAA punished Boeheim and Syracuse for academic, benefits and other violations that officials said showed the university had lost control of the athletic department.

"I'll take the punishment," Boeheim said. "Today what's important is to handle what I have to do here. I am 70 years old. It's obvious there's a time frame for me as head coach. I feel that three years is right for me. Three years is probably longer than I was planning."

The violations have blemished the final chapter of Boeheim's decorated career, but his lengthy exit plan and support from Syracuse officials throughout the investigation showed how powerful he has become as the face of the university.

Boeheim built his reputation over five decades as a player and a coach, revered for wins and delivering a national title to a struggling city in 2003.

"Given all these developments, it's right for the program (for me to stay)," Boeheim said. I've told every recruit I'm going to coach next year. If anybody's concerned about recruiting, I don't think that's an issue."

Boeheim is already suspended for the first half of the next Atlantic Coast Conference season, a total of nine games. Syracuse will also have three scholarships taken away for four seasons and all wins vacated in which an ineligible player participated during five seasons between 2004 and 2012. The total wins removed from records could be as high as 108, depending on what happens in the appeal process. Syracuse has already vacated 24 wins.

The school's athletic director is also stepping aside, immediately taking another marketing position with the school.

Longtime assistant coach Mike Hopkins, a former Orange star player, is in line to succeed Boeheim.

In its report, the NCAA placed Syracuse on probation for five years, saying athletic department officials interfered with academics to make sure star players stayed eligible.

Support staff routinely accessed and sent emails from student-athletes' accounts and corresponded directly with professors and included attached course work to maintain the required grades for the student-athletes to remain eligible, the report said.

Basketball staff also encouraged students to develop relationships with a booster, which led to more than $8,000 in improper payments to five athletes for volunteering at a local YMCA, the report said. Additionally, the booster gave money to basketball staff for appearances or assistance at YMCA events, payments that weren't reported to the school as outside income or supplemental pay, as NCAA rules require.

"The behavior in this case, which placed the desire to achieve success on the basketball court over academic integrity, demonstrated clearly misplaced institutional priorities," the NCAA said in its report.

Punishment also includes financial penalties and recruiting restrictions for two years.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.

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