Having gotten a fair number of visits via the search string “Jim Boeheim’s Wife” (and once or twice “Jim Boeheim’s Hot Wife,” presumably by people who are looking for something more salacious than me griping about how inappropriate it is for Dick Vitale to talk about her attractiveness all the goddamn time), I would be remiss in my duties if I were to pass up commenting on the New York Times article headlined “Boeheim and Wife Lead Crusade Against Cancer”. As you might guess, it’s about their fundraising efforts for Coaches vs. Cancer, which have a personal basis:
For Boeheim, 62, the fight against cancer is practically a grudge match. His mother died of leukemia at age 56 and his father, a ferocious competitor who hated to lose and passed that quality on to his son, died of prostate cancer nearly two decades ago.
Boeheim’s closest friend, Bill Rapp Jr., died two years ago of esophageal cancer at age 65, and Boeheim still cannot mention his name without tears welling. Jack Bruen, who coached at nearby Colgate University, died in 1997 at age 48, two months after his pancreatic cancer was diagnosed; and the former North Carolina State coach Jimmy Valvano, a close friend, died of cancer in 1993.
So it is no wonder that since he decided more than a decade ago to support Coaches vs. Cancer, Boeheim and his wife, Juli, have become fund-raising trailblazers, raising nearly $4 million for the nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
There are a few good quotes from Juli Boeheim in the story, but alas for horny Googlers, no pictures. The article mentions a whole bunch of other coaches as well, and several other coaches’ wives, but it’s mostly about the effort the Boeheims have put into the cause. Which is a fair bit, and it’s a good cause, so if you’re the sort who gives money to charity based on feel-good stories in the Times, by all means, send them a few bucks.