3RD TIME’S THE CHARM: Syracuse’s tournament runs in 1987, 1996 paved the way for its 2003 championship

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efore Syracuse’s 2003 national championship game against Kansas, Carmelo Anthony saw Jim Boeheim nervously pacing. “He just wasn’t himself,” Anthony recalled to Bleacher Report five years ago. 

Boeheim had been in the position — twice before, in fact — of coaching in a title game, and had fallen short both times. The game against the Jayhawks was being played in the same building, the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, as SU’s buzzer-beating loss to Indiana in 1987. 

So, Anthony approached Boeheim. “Coach, don’t worry. We got this,” Anthony said. “We’re gonna get this done.” 

Syracuse did, beating Kansas 81-78 for its first and only men’s basketball national championship. Instead of losing on a last-second shot from Keith Smart like they did to Indiana in 1987, or to guard Tony Delk, who hit seven 3s in the 1996 loss to Kentucky, the Orange came out on top in 2003. This time, it was Hakim Warrick blocking the potential game-tying shot in the final seconds, and Syracuse’s Gerry McNamara hitting six 3-pointers in the victory. And Boeheim, after 27 years as head coach and three Final Four appearances, finally had his national championship. 

“The third time was the charm,” said Matt Roe, a member of the 1987 team. “The first one (in 1987), a lot of people felt like it was ours — we gave it away. So (2003) was karma in a lot of ways.” 

Warrick’s block was the opposite of Smart’s shot, Roe said. With a few minutes left against Indiana, Roe sat on the bench, imagining himself giving his dad a championship ring. That gesture was supposed to show appreciation for the countless hours Roe’s dad had spent with him shooting at the YMCA in downtown Manlius and driving him to games. 

Instead, Derrick Coleman missed the front end of a one-and-one with Syracuse up one. Smart put up a fallaway, baseline jumper over the outstretched left arm of Howard Triche with just seconds remaining. On SU’s bench, 90 feet away, Roe couldn’t tell if the shot went in. When it dropped, Roe’s heart sank. He’s watched the shot on TV several times since, but still can’t stomach rewatching the entire game. “I don’t have the heart to do it,” he said. “It hurts.” 

“That’s one shot that everyone will tell you where they were, where they were watching it, what they were thinking,” Roe said. “I always laugh and say, ‘well, I had a pretty good seat, too.’ And unfortunately, it was the wrong result.” 

John Wallace, Syracuse’s top player in 1996, also hasn’t rewatched his national championship loss. Playing top-seeded Kentucky, Wallace scored a game-high 29 points, but fouled out. He said his only regret about the game was not shooting enough, and insisted SU would’ve won if he hadn’t fouled out. Instead, Syracuse fell 76-67.

Wallace was the first player in the Orange’s locker room after the loss, taking out his frustration on some scattered items. While he said Syracuse took no moral victories from the defeat, the deep run that year — as well as in 1987 — also “100%” helped pave the way for the 2003 championship. 

“When you bring it up, it’s bittersweet,” Wallace said of losing the 1996 title game. “But at the same time, it’s part of the ‘Cuse legacy that was a stepping stone to everything that led to us finally winning it in 2003.” 

After losing to Indiana in 1987, SU players had to make a lengthy, quarter-mile trip from the court to the locker room quietly, with plenty of tears, Roe said. A solemn Boeheim walked to shake hands with Bob Knight. 

While that loss was a disappointment, the Orange didn’t even expect to get to the Final Four, Roe said. The realization didn’t hit until the clock was ticking down during their Elite Eight win over top-seeded North Carolina. 

“That was never really on our radar,” Roe said of getting to the Final Four. “We really were shocked as a team, I think, getting to the Final Four.”

That underdog mindset — something both the 1996 and 2003 teams also had — didn’t change in New Orleans, even as the team received a police escort and stayed in a five-star hotel. SU was the third-most talked about team that week, behind No. 1 seeds Indiana and UNLV, and didn’t face significant pressure, Roe said. 

Boeheim kept his approach consistent, too. Syracuse still had its pregame meal four hours before tip-off, and Boeheim put his regular five starters, defensive assignments and opponent sets on the chalkboard before the game, like usual. 

Back in the same city 16 years later, Boeheim didn’t change much, said Clay McKnight, SU’s administrative assistant in 2003. Practice plans stayed the same, and so did Boeheim. After the Kansas win, when reporters asked him how being a national champion felt, Boeheim replied that he was the same coach as he was beforehand — not much had changed.  

Throughout the 2003 tournament, Syracuse played loose, running plays three times in a row if they kept working, and beat four of its six opponents by double digits. 

“It really wasn’t like they weren’t scared of anybody or anything,” McKnight said. “They respected the opponents, but they weren’t scared of playing anybody.”

That had been evident since a late-February win at Michigan State, when the Orange’s belief that they were in store for a special season went to a “different level,” McKnight said. 

Like the 1995-96 team, SU had started the 2002-03 season unranked, but gradually saw its confidence grow. Wallace recalled entering the 1996 NCAA Tournament thinking the Orange could win it all. After flying home following the Elite Eight win over Kansas, fans parked on the side of the road to greet the team, and so did thousands more waiting at Manley Field House. Wallace could see the relief in Boeheim’s face as he returned to the Final Four. 

Before the 2003 NCAA Tournament started, McKnight worked for 40 hours — even through the night several days in a row — on a 25 x 20 inch bracket that went on the wall of Syracuse’s old office. McKnight had never built one before or since, but had a feeling the Orange were in for a special run. Boeheim liked the bracket so much that, when the basketball staff changed offices years later to the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center, he tried to take it off the wall and bring it with him, McKnight said. 

With less than two seconds remaining after Warrick’s block in the title game, McNamara sat on the bench with his arms draped over McKnight and Mike Hopkins, both stressed out. His message was the same as Anthony’s before the game. 

“We got this,” McNamara said. “Don’t worry.” 

And when Kirk Hinrich’s final heave landed way off, Boeheim’s arms launched into the air. As he walked toward Kansas coach Roy Williams, his face still resembled the one he had when greeting Knight in 1987, but this time, he had a national championship, and McKnight’s bracket had just one name still standing: Syracuse.

Photograph by Amy Young | Daily Orange Archive Photo