OVERBLOWN OR DESERVING OF CRITICISM? BUDDY BOEHEIM SPARKS CONTROVERSY IN SECOND ROUND OF ACC TOURNAMENT

By Wyatt Krueger

Staff Writer

March 9, 2022

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – No. 9-seeded Syracuse routed No. 8-seeded Florida State 96–57 in the second round of the ACC Tournament, but controversy arose in the midst of action after Orange star Buddy Boeheim swung his arm at Seminole forward Wyatt Wilkes in the first half.

“The kid pushed him twice, and he swung around and hit him,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said on the play after the game. “He got pushed, and he retaliated. He shouldn't have done it, but he did. He swung around, and contact was made. If the referee had seen it, it would have been a flagrant one. That would have been it.”

Syracuse released the following statement from Buddy after the incident:

"In the heat of today's game, after some shoving in the lane, I swung my arm while turning to go back up the court," the statement reads. "It was wrong and I acted out of frustration. I apologized to Wyatt Wilkes multiple times in the handshake line. He said not to worry about it, but I know it was wrong. I pride myself in respecting the game and our opponent. I will not react that way again."

As angry as some seem to be at Buddy, his teammates and Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton didn’t hold back when defending the First Team All-ACC forward’s character.

“I can tell you it probably wasn't on purpose, just knowing the way Buddy is,” Syracuse guard Joe Girard said about his teammate. “He's never been really an aggressive kid, in terms of hitting or fighting anybody.”

“There's not a better kid in the ACC than Buddy Boeheim,” Hamilton said. “He's a class kid, tremendous character. He's a young man who's competitive, like everyone else, and I don't want anything to take away from how well they played and what type of fine young man he is.”

The ACC has yet to release a statement on the matter, but a suspension seems unlikely considering Buddy's track record and the response from Hamilton and Wilkes.

“I know his family, I know his mother, I know Jim,” Hamilton said. “I know what kind of kid he is, and we're going to move on and let how well they played be the information we need to talk about in relation to this game.”

Despite the extracurricular act by Buddy, the Orange played one of their best games of the season against the Seminoles: Four out of five starters were in double figures and the two-three-zone held FSU to just 2-for-25 shooting from three.

Jim Boeheim’s squad will face the No. 1-seeded Duke Blue Devils tomorrow at noon in hopes of keeping its season and tournament hopes alive.