Danny Parkins recalls time Jim Boeheim called into his Syracuse postgame show

It was well understood during Jim Boeheim’s time as head coach of the Syracuse men’s basketball team that he read every local writer who covered the team and listened to every local radio show that discussed them.

FS1’s Danny Parkins, who had a stint as a sports talk host in Syracuse, NY, learned that lesson all too well.

Parkins was a host on Syracuse’s ESPN 1260 around 2010 when, according to a story he told on The Colin Cowherd Podcast, he shared some thoughts on what Boeheim needed to do with his guards.

“Jim Boeheim, he used to call in to my postgame show. He would be driving home, and he’d hear me say something,” Parkins told Cowherd. “If national media ever criticized him, he never said anything. But if local media ever criticized him, he was like, ‘I’m the biggest game in town,’ and he was.

“[Syracuse guards] Brandon Triche and Scoop Jardine. I was like, ‘You got to name one of them the point guard.’ Phone line rings for my postgame show. Call screener is like, ‘It’s Jim in Syracuse.’ He’s like, ‘That Jim.’ I’m like, ‘What? Put him on.'”

Parkins then connected with the ornery head coach, who couldn’t wait until he was home from the game to call in.

“He goes, ‘Listening to your show, driving home from our win, by the way,'” Parkins said. “He goes, ‘I just want you to know that you say I need to name a point guard. If they’re not pressing, you could bring the ball up across half the court. It doesn’t matter.’

“It was incredible. One of the greatest moments of my career. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s such a good point. That’s why you’re a Hall of Famer. Thanks for calling me. First time, long time. Don’t be a stranger.’ And it was the greatest. And we’ve had a pretty good relationship ever since.”

Parkins is hardly the only radio host to get a phone call from “Jim from Syracuse” or “Jim in Fayetteville” during the show. Former Syracuse radio host Brent Axe would routinely find himself in that situation after discussing Syracuse basketball.

“I know he listens,” Axe told Awful Announcing in 2017. “It doesn’t change the way I do it other than to be prepared, Jim will hear about it or even call in. Disagreements will happen. That’s fine. What I want Jim and any other coach or big sports figure listening to know is my opinion will be informed, and they always have a chance to respond to it.”

Boeheim wasn’t always everyone’s cup of tea, but given the current state of Syracuse basketball, plenty of fans probably wouldn’t mind returning to those better days right about now.