As we were reminded earlier this week, Jim Boeheim can do it all. For his efforts, the 70-year old Syracuse Orange head coach was recently in Oklahoma City to accept the Wayman Tisdale Humanitarian Award.
Coach Boeheim said it's "one of the best awards I've ever gotten."
It puts the Hall-of-Famer on a high-profile list of past winners that includes Bill Self, Tom Izzo, Mike Krzyzewski and Dick Vitale.
According to Collegebasketballawards.com, the award is given to "an individual that has exhibited humanitarian traits by using his or her high-profile position in college basketball to make a difference off the court and in the communities they live and operate within."
Coach Boeheim accepted the award on Tuesday, but was aware he won back in December.
The Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation strives to enrich the lives of kids in need within our Central New York community, as well, as, provide support for elimination cancer through research and advocacy. The Foundation has earned over $5.5 million dollars to charities in it's 15 years of existence, according to Syracuse.com's Chris Carlson.
But, as well all know far too well, Jim Boeheim had much more to talk about than the award. In a radio interview with The Sports Animal (WWLS 98.1 FM), he touched on numerous topics. Those topics include: Kentucky basketball, Carmelo Anthony, Dion Waiters and retirement.
When asked if this season's Kentucky squad is one of the best ever, Boeheim laughed and compared them to Ewing's Georgetown teams and Jordan's UNC teams. "If Jordan and those guys had played Kentucky, it wouldn't even have been a game."
Coach Boehiem told The Sports Animal that Russell Westbrook is "the only guy other than my mother to call me Jimmy in thirty years. I have tremendous respect for Russell." Coach continued, "Dion Waiters is potentially a great player. He's a very good player. I love Dion Waiters."
"I love Syracuse. I'm going to be there nine or ten months out of the year," coach said. "But two or three months, we're going somewhere to play golf."
Boeheim also touched on his relationship with Carmelo Anthony, who he called "one of the best scorers I've ever coached with or against." He reminded the critics that Anthony is a pure scorer, and without him this year, the New York Knicks have won 14 games.
A side note: Pearl Washington is currently earning his Masters degree at Syracuse University.