Buddy Boeheim, the son of long-time Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, has been accused of punching an opposing player in the stomach during Wednesday’s ACC Tournament.
During the first half, Florida State Seminoles guard Wyatt Wilkes and Boeheim were boxing out on a shot that scored for Florida State when it appeared that Boeheim gave a jab to Wilkes’ gut.
Buddy Boeheim appears to punch Florida State player in ACC Tournament https://t.co/qBEcvJM5bw pic.twitter.com/gl38LrL32y
— New York Post (@nypost) March 9, 2022
ESPN color commentator Jay Bilas saw the incident and he insisted, “That looked intentional,” according to the New York Post.
The officials did not call the incident and no review of the play was requested even though Wilkes left the game right after the incident.
Jim Boeheim later claimed that his son did not punch Wilkes on purpose.
“I saw the play, the kid pushed him twice, I think it was inadvertent,” Boeheim said later that night. “It wasn’t much of a punch.”
Buddy later delivered a public apology to Wilkes.
“In the heat of today’s game, after some shoving in the lane, I swung my arm while turning to go back up court,” Boeheim said in his statement. “It was wrong to act out in frustration. I apologized to Wyatt Wilkes multiple times in the handshake line. He said not to worry about it, but I know I was wrong. I pride myself in respecting the game and our opponent. I will not react that way again.”
Statement from Buddy Boeheim pic.twitter.com/1SvERy9GW7
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) March 9, 2022
Syracuse won the game 96-57 and will go on to face Duke on Thursday.
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