The kid some wanted benched has combined for 55 points on 13-of-23 shooting from beyond the three-point arc in NCAA victories against favored San Diego State and West Virginia. And this particular journey just might be his sweetest because it’s been made possible by his boy - the 6-foot-6 guard known as Buddy Buckets. This is the 20 th time an Orange squad has advanced this far under the 76-year-old Boeheim.
Eleventh-seed Syracuse, which just a month ago looked like it wouldn’t be doing any dancing at this NCAA tournament, has advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, with a Saturday night matchup against Houston looming. And, now, something maddeningly special is unfolding in Orange Nation. Eventually, the shots started falling, and the team got on a roll. And at the urging of Orange-shooting-star-turned-assistant-coach Gerry McNamara, he kept firing away. There were personal attacks, accusations of favoritism, and calls for Buddy’s benching.īuddy persevered by doing what he’s always done - he worked his keister off. 500, and the internet vitriol among spoiled Orange fans started surging. Earlier this season, he was mired in a shooting slump, the team was struggling to stay above. The younger boy, Buddy, is an SU junior who’s exceeding the enormous expectations that come from playing in your hometown for a father who created this college hoops juggernaut and casts a shadow larger than the Dome.īuddy endured some tough times to reach this lofty perch. The oldest son, Jimmy, wound up at Cornell, where he’s an accomplished senior who unfortunately didn’t play a game this season because the Ivy Leagues shut down winter sports in response to the pandemic.
BUDDY BUCKETS HOW TO
That they would follow in Jim Boeheim’s footsteps and play college basketball was not surprising, given they had learned how to shoot and dribble not long after learning how to walk, and had tagged along with their dad to so many practices and games that the Dome and the Carmelo Anthony Basketball Center became second homes.
After Syracuse University basketball games in the early 2010s, I occasionally would steal a glance at the lanky lads leaning against a wall, off to the side, as they watched their famous father answer reporters’ questions in the bowels of the Carrier Dome.