SU COACHES TOGETHER ON THE GOLF COURSE — Syracuse University men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim, left, and SU football coach Doug Marrone chat before teeing off for the third annual Jim Boeheim Golf Classic at the Shenandoah Golf Club in Verona on Thursday. (Sentinel photo by John Clifford)

VERONA — Jim Boeheim is taking a short break from his duties as Syracuse University’s head basketball coach, but he still is as busy as ever, contributing as much time to his foundation as he does on the court.

On Thursday, he turned his attention to golf for the third annual Jim Boeheim Golf Classic at the Shenendoah Golf Club at Turning Stone Resort and Casino.

Proceeds from the event benefits the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation, which has a mission of enriching the lives of children in Central New York and support cancer research, as well. The tournament has raised nearly $175,000 for charity over the past two years.

"The foundation has been set up to help kids in Central New York," said Boeheim. "We’re excited about the opportunity to do that and we have two major fundraisers coming up. There’s a lot of kids that need help, and we are going to get a lot of groups with this. Turning Stone has been very good and very helpful in keeping the expenses down, and they want us to make more money to help the kids."

Among the other projects the foundation works on is "Courts for Kids," which designs and builds basketball courts for children with the support of former SU and current Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony, according to the official publicist and marketing manager for Boeheim, Mike Bristol. Other initiatives are working with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central New York and Sneakers 4 Kids, which buys shoes for youngsters in the area who are unable to do so.

SU football coach Doug Marrone, SU athletic director Daryl Gross, former SU All-American from 1989-92 and an eight-year NFL player for the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals Chris Gedney and former SU basketball standout Gerry McNamara all participated in the tournament.

"It’s good to be out here and see the guys and play a few holes with a couple of different groups," Boeheim said. "Gerry’s getting better and has been practicing his game a lot, but I think I can still beat him."

Boeheim was also coming off a shooting contest with NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart at the Carmelo Anthony basketball center at SU. Boeheim will be the grand marshal for the Nationwide Series race scheduled Saturday, Aug. 7, at Watkins Glen. He’ll watch the race with a limited number of SU basketball fans in a VIP hospitality area, with proceeds from ticket sales going to the foundation.

As the basketball season approaches, Boeheim said it’s still early to determine what his team will look like for the season, especially with the team’s incoming recruits, including Brewster Academy’s C.J. Fair of Baltimore, Md., Life Center Academy’s Dion Waiters of Philadelphia, Pa., Fabricio de Melo of Brazil and Baye Moussa Keita of Senegal.

"They’re talented, but freshmen are freshmen. Sometimes they surprise you one way or the other," he said. "Sometimes they’re better than you think and sometimes they struggle. We think they’re good, we think they’re talented."

Syracuse will also be without the services of shooting guard Andy Rautins and center Arinze Onuako from graduation as well as point guard Jonny Flynn and forward Wesley Johnson, who both entered the NBA Draft and later signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Rautins was also selected by the New York Knicks in the Draft, as well.

"We’re not going to replace Wesley and Jonny, they’re big shoes to fill," said Boeheim. "Everybody is going to have to do something to pull it together. We only got four veteran guys and got a few freshman and sophomores. We’ll see how long it takes them to fit in and how long it takes for them to feel good. We got a good group and we’re excited about this team."

The veteran SU coach added that he is happy for Flynn, Rautins and Johnson signing for the NBA and shows no hard feelings for them leaving school early and signing up for the Draft.

"If you have an opportunity to make money, you should go ahead and do it," he said. "Guys like Wesley, Jonny and Andy, they’re going to make a lot of money in the NBA with the team they’re on. It’s their dream, and it will give them an opportunity to show their skills to a wider audience."

Boeheim is also one victory away from tying Mount St. Mary’s coach Jim Phelan for seventh place on college basketball’s all-time win list. Boeheim, whose team was 30-5 overall last season, is 829-293 in 33 seasons, all at Syracuse. "I wish we didn’t schedule Northern Iowa for the first game, though. They’re pretty hard," he said. "I look at the season as a 0-0 start and don’t really look at that. It’s not about that, it’s about this year, but when I first started out I never would’ve thought I’d be a part of that conversation. You don’t think about that, you only think about the first contract."