Syracuse announces Jim Boeheim will retire in three years

One of the lingering questions after the NCAA waylaid Syracuse with a series of penalties earlier this month was whether Jim Boeheim intended to stay on as coach for the duration of the scholarship restrictions.

An announcement the school made Wednesday morning provided some clarity.

Boeheim, 70, intends to retire in three years after the 2017-18 season, Syracuse announced. Earlier in the day, athletic director Daryl Gross stepped down in the wake of lengthy NCAA investigation that uncovered academic misconduct, extra benefits violations and impermissible booster activity in the Syracuse men's basketball program.

If Boeheim sticks to the retirement timetable, that would mean he will serve his nine-game suspension at the start of next year's ACC slate but will only be around for part of the scholarship restrictions Syracuse will endure. The NCAA will reduce the number of scholarships Syracuse can use by three for four consecutive seasons beginning either for the 2015-16 season or the year after, leaving the Orange with a maximum of 10 scholarship players each of those seasons.

Having to hire a coach amid crippling scholarship restrictions could hinder Syracuse's ability to land a prominent candidate from outside the program. Assistant coach Mike Hopkins has been acknowledged as Boeheim's eventual successor for years, but he also interviewed for the USC job and several others the past couple years, raising the question of whether he will still be at Syracuse by the time Boeheim does retire.

It's also possible Syracuse might want to look outside the Boeheim regime for a coach who wasn't present during the years in which NCAA violations were committed.

Whoever replaces Boeheim, it will be a strange sight seeing anyone else on the Syracuse bench.

Boeheim came to Syracuse as a freshman in 1962 and later served as an assistant before becoming the head coach in 1976. He built Syracuse into a national power, reaching four Final Fours, winning the 2003 national championship and trailing only Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski on the all-time wins list before more than 100 of his victories were vacated as part of the NCAA's punishment.