WATCH: Jay Bilas makes bold declaration on Buddy Boeheim suspension
College hoops analyst Jay Bilas called out the ACC following the suspension of Syracuse guard Buddy Boeheim on Wednesday. Boeheim hit Florida State’s Wyatt Wilkes in the stomach, which he apologized for, and is consequently suspended for the Orange’s next tournament game versus Duke. However, game officials missed the call during the game, leading Bilas to call out the league for what he perceives as a disproportionate reaction and a miscarriage of justice.
“The suspension of Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim for what happened in the Florida State game is just wrong,” Bilas said via Twitter. “The ACC came in after the fact and decided to suspend Buddy Boeheim and it’s disproportionate to the offense. Rules are rules, and the rules of the game indicate that if play started after the fact and the action could not be reviewed, that’s final. And it was final. The referees could not review the play after play started again. They missed it, and that’s fine.”
“Now, the ACC could condemn the action and issue a reprimand, but suspending Buddy Boeheim for the next game against Duke is disproportionate to the offense and, I think, wrong,” Bilas continued. “That effectively ends Buddy Boeheim’s career, it affects the ACC Tournament and I don’t think it’s the right thing. Rules are rules, and those rules were written for a reason. If the referees, by rule, could go back and review the play after play had started, that’s fine. Then, perhaps, it’s a flagrant 2 and Buddy Boeheim is thrown out of the Florida State game. But after the game is over, then it’s over.
“Just like you can’t review somebody stepping out of bounds or review a charge/block call after the game, you can’t review this. The question is one of proportionality. Nobody’s saying that what happened was right. It wasn’t. Buddy Boeheim apologized and that’s great. But the ACC should’ve moved on and Buddy Boeheim should be playing against Duke. This is the wrong decision made by the ACC, and it’s wrong because it’s not proportionate. It’s [disproportionate] to the offense and it goes against the rules of play.”
Bilas’ take, which has more than 450,000 views since Wednesday night, received hefty criticism from college hoops fans.