The contentious relationship between Dion Waiters and Jim Boeheim may have finally reached its boiling point, as The Per’fesser has suggested the Philly guard may not return to Syracuse.
According to a story this morning from Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports:
“Speaking at a clinic at Manhattan College, Boeheim said Waiters’ return to Syracuse is ‘up in the air.’
‘Sometimes change is good for everyone. His situation will be resolved by the end of the school year,’ Boeheim said.”
This understandably created a furor on Twitter, where Syracuse fans bombarded Waiters with questions on whether the story was legit. Waiters responded with a series of tweets that questioned the validity of the reports.
“who said I’m leaving?”
“dnt believe that if it didn’t come out my mouth”
“if yu didn’t hear it frm me then y would yu believe”
“imma say this for the last time if it didn’t come out my mouth dnt believe it”
Interestingly one of Waiters tweets was directed at CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish, apparently in response to Parrish’s explanation on why the guard would not return. This was Parrish’s tweet.
“The simple answer is that his coach doesn’t really like him.”
Is there truth to that? Probably. And likely the feeling is mutual. While Boeheim may have softened in recent years, he still suffers few fools – including freshman hotheads who tell him at the end of blowout losses to “f— off.”
Boeheim dismissed the notion Waiters had cussed him on Brent Axe’s show via The Score 1260 just days after.
“Never happened. Did not happen. He said nothing to me directly, ever. Whether he said something when I was walking away, I can’t hear things behind my back. My hearing isn’t that good. But he said nothing to me, I said a lot to him. He responds, players are free to respond. He thought he was trying to do what we were trying to get done.”
But as The Fizz wrote that day, something was said. In this case, The Per’fesser was probably just picking his battles – and choosing to address this privately (which meant a significant playing time decrease for Dion).
“Dion said something. Boeheim knows it. But the reason he‚Äôs a Hall of Famer is understanding 19-year-old tempers in the heat of the moment and how to address combustible situations. In this case, he threw a wet blanket over it. Dion is still on this team. What his standing is within it? That‚Äôs a whole different discussion.”
Boeheim’s words sound like a Paul Harris-like kiss of death. Suggesting change may be good for Waiters is a symbolic wave goodbye. It doesn’t serve Boeheim to suggest a player will leave and then have him instead return while creating more discomfort for the team. It also doesn’t take a body language expert to see the two egos clash during most games. Maybe The Per’fesser is merely scaring Waiters straight, putting the onus on the player to straighten up. But if the timeframe is indeed by the end of the school year, we may only have less than a month of Dion as an Orange.
Posted: D.A.
14 responses to “Waiters vs. Boeheim: Are Reports Dion Will Not Return to Syracuse True?”
seems like boeheim likes causing a stir. do you ever see coach K or roy williams forcing players off their team by opening their mouth to the media? nope. this is a major concern of mine regarding boeheim.
If Boeheim is bringing it up to the media then chances are he is going to end up leaving. It is unfortunate but it just proves that kids shouldn’t be committing to colleges before they even take the high school floor
Easy guys. Rick pitino called out Edgar Sosa in the same way a yr or so ago when he wasnt being focused and playing how he wanted him to. We got to see waiters take over the marquette game when the `cuse needed somone to and i feel boeheim just wants him to put the work in this summer and spring so that becomes more of regular occurrence.
Boeheim pretty much reaps what he sows. He recruits lots and lots of kids who have no business on a College campus; then he gets bent out of shape when they exhibit anti social behavior.
Maybe Jimmy should spend less time with street agents and more time with his admissions counselors.
This is unfortunate for all involved. If it’s a tactic to get more out of a young, talented player, it’s already heading in the wrong direction. Boeheim needs to better understand his players and their attitudes to coach them and teach them without alienating them. And Waiters needs to show a lot more discipline and respect for one of the all-time great college basketball coaches. If this turns into a pi$$ing contest, SU will lose a fantastic young player and Waiters will have a tough time escaping the label of a reckless, selfish, uncontrollable risk.
Roy Williams and Coach K have forced players out. Do you think Roy was crying when Larry Drew left school in the middle of the year? No one mentioned Tom Izzo and he chased off two players, Chris Allen and Korey Lucious, from their 2010 Final Four team. This stuff happens, but there could be an academic component to it, which is why it will be resolved by the end of the year. Due to federal academic privacy laws, JB is not allowed to say that Dion’s grades stink and are too low for him to be eligible next year. It could also be that Dion’s class attendance had dropped off in the last month and this is JB’s way of putting his foot in Dion’s behind. I think SU needs Dion. They don’t have much quickness in the backcourt, as shown repeatedly during the Marquette disaster. Dion scored because he was the only SU guard who is quick enough to beat Jimmy Butler and DJO off the dribble. This needs to be resolved without Dion transferring. I think this will hurt more than JB lets on as it means that we have to hope that Mookie actually learns how to handle the ball effectively and play defense. I have no confidence that either will happen. JB also forgets that this would mean that SU would get punished under the APR guidelines as this would effectively set off Ricky’s graduation.
orangeskin — good post until you make the leap that Dion leaving could mean minutes for Mookie. Is the entire SU blogosphere from Peekskill?
Mookie will NEVER play significant minutes for Boeheim. I think there’s ample evidence over the past 3 years to prove that.
Orangeskin says “Roy Williams and Coach K have forced players out.” Don’t know concerning “K”. However, the Larry Drew II…
If Roy ran him off, I guess you are so imbecilic to suggest the same thing concerning Larry’s younger brother.
Case in point, Drew’s mother continued meddling in her son’s basketball program, claiming her son wasn’t receiving proper treatment and not enough actual game time.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/seth_davis/02/07/hoop.thoughts/index.html
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