The Syracuse Orange, coached by Adrian Autry, has been advised to inject more funds into its NIL ventures. On Tuesday, Dec. 16, Special Assistant to the Syracuse Athletic Director, Jim Boeheim, appeared on college basketball reporter Ashley Wenskoski’s “The Orange Zone” podcast.
Wenskoski asked Boeheim for his thoughts on the program’s funding as a whole, especially for men’s basketball. He said it is more than proper that there is a specific distinction of funding by the Orange program for its major sports, in this case, both college football and basketball.
“Well, they have to decide at the highest level of the university that we’re going to, you know, fully fund, which is 20 million. And then, there’s collectives because these schools, even though they say they’re gonna try to control it, it’s not gonna happen. There’s still gonna be collectives, and there’s still gonna be people paying more than the 20 million. So my guess next year, to be good in football…You can still recruit, but at the end of the day, you got to be able to come really close money-wise,” Boeheim claimed.
“So you’re not getting somebody, they probably need 20 million, 22 million, basketball needs 10 million and that’s 22, you know, that’s $32 million. You know, that’s a lot. They can pay the 20 million for school, but then you got to raise 20 million more or 10 million more. And, you know, that’s what they, in my opinion, what has to happen. They can’t do it with $20 million, just can’t be done,” he added.
Jim Boeheim told us today that he believes Syracuse men’s basketball needs a $10 million budget to be competitive in NIL🍊🏀
He did not say how much the team spent this season, but said they had more money than last year – when the budget was reportedly slightly over $2M pic.twitter.com/ZPHE3zS9R9
— Ashley Wenskoski (@AshleyWenskTV) December 16, 2025
In the early 2025-26 college basketball season, the Orange possess a 6-4 overall record, and they are currently 10 games in their non-conference schedule. The team is coming off a tight one-point loss, 70-69, to the Hofstra Pride on Saturday, Dec. 13, on their home court. Syracuse will look to get back into the win column when it faces the Mercyhurst Lakers on Wednesday, Dec. 17.
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Jim Boeheim Gave His Thoughts On The Current Economic State Of Syracuse Orange Basketball
In the same interview, reporter Ashley Wenskoski asked Jim Boeheim for his thoughts on the current economic state of the Syracuse Orange, regarding his claim that the team needs at least $10 million in funding.
Boeheim is unsure of where the team stands right now, but he did share what he thinks the program will do moving forward.
“ You know, I don’t know. I’m not involved. I know that’s what I see from being around talking to coaches and people in the game. That’s roughly where it’s going to, you know, they’re trying to limit it by this, this board that’s going to review things, but sure. I don’t think that’ll work,” Boeheim shared.
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