A question directed to both Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim and Texas Tech head coach Bob Knight in an open conference call on Tuesday caused confusion over who should answer first.

‘Coach Knight’s a lot older than me, so I’ll let him answer that,’ Boeheim quipped.

Knight, erupting in laughter, fired back, ‘Jimmy, you son-of-a-gun, I knew you’d come at me right off the bat!’

The joking didn’t stop and the media listening to the teleconference bore witness to two of college basketball’s legends cutting each other up like two teenagers in a locker room joking about their weekend.

The two meet when Syracuse plays Texas Tech tonight at 9 in the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York City. While the game is one of the top early season matchups in college basketball, perhaps more intriguing is the matchup of the two Hall of Fame coaches.

After all, Boeheim and Knight faced each other in the 1987 National Championship while Knight coached Indiana. The Hoosiers won, 74-73, on a Keith Smart jump shot in the waning seconds, thwarting Boeheim’s first attempt at a national title.

One reporter had the guile to mention the game to which Boeheim joked, ‘Thanks for bringing that one up.’

Besides the 1987 title game, Boeheim has Knight’s number. He’s yet to coach against Knight at Texas Tech, but Boeheim was 3-1 against Knight’s Indiana teams, including a 102-78 win in the Big Apple NIT in 1988. The last time the coaches met was at the Maui Classic in 1990, when the No. 13 Orange beat the No. 8 Hoosiers, 77-74.

‘The thing I like the very best about Jimmy is how much he likes basketball,’ Knight said. ‘He was a great player and a really good coach. He’s unique in the way he coaches the defensive end. He does a great job about the zone defense, as good job as anyone I’ve seen in basketball. Their teams are always good to play against because you can always tell what you can and can’t do.’

Boeheim said Knight was ‘just being nice’ and credited The General’s teams as always presenting ‘a great challenge.’

The Red Raiders lost three of their top contributors from a team that reached the Sweet 16 last season: Devonne Giles, Curtis Marshall and Ronald Ross. Among their key returners is Martin Zeno, a sophomore slasher who averaged more than 12 points a game his freshman season. Zeno scored 28 points in Texas Tech’s 74-61 win against Georgia Southern on Friday night.

The great unknown for Texas Tech is its newcomers, including seven freshmen and a junior college transfer, Jonathan Plefka, who started at forward against GSU. Three of the freshmen earned minutes.

‘I’m not sure we’re going to see much of our freshmen in these games,’ Knight said. ‘Right now, as the coaches would probably agree, freshmen are freshmen.’

The idea of relying on freshmen was somewhat of a foreign concept when Boeheim and Knight started coaching. But they’ve both adapted to change. Boeheim, for instance, won his first national championship in 2003 led by Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara, both freshmen at the time.

Between the two coaches lie 70 seasons, 1,561 wins and four national championships. And they’ve achieved their success with contrasting styles. Boeheim, for one, generally coaches the 2-3 zone on defense, while Knight is a proponent of man-to-man.

Neither Boeheim nor Knight chalked up a definitive explanation for their longevity and success, but they look at each other as models.

‘I mentioned early how much (Boeheim) likes the game of basketball,’ Knight said. ‘I would hope I enjoy basketball and I enjoy the game. When you don’t know much about anything else, there’s not much else to do. I look at myself and say, ‘What the hell else would I do?’ So I keep doing something I know about.’

Boeheim agreed. But he also couldn’t resist taking one final jab at tonight’s foe.

‘I’ll never last as long as Coach Knight,’ Boeheim said. ‘I can’t remember how old he is.’

Published on November 15, 2005 at 12:00 pm