A Syracuse sports blog reported Wednesday that longtime Orange men’s basketball head coach Jim Boeheim was to be asked to retire at the end of this season, which was later tweeted out by the University’s verified account.
While rumors of coaches being on the hot seat are commonplace in both collegiate and professional athletics, it’s the way the account handled it that makes the scenario interesting.
After Syracuse’s 78-57 victory over DePaul on Wednesday night, the account (@SyracuseU) tweeted “Did I just watch Jim Boeheim’s last game in the Carrier Dome? One source says yes.” with a link to the story.
The tweet was deleted moments later; however, it spread like wildfire over different social media channels and was even picked up by Deadspin.
Senior Vice President for Public Affairs Kevin Quinn denied any truth to the rumor to NBC Sports, saying that the tweet “was inadvertently and mistakenly sent out. Nothing contained in the tweet or the blog link is accurate or true. We apologize for the confusion.”
Syracuse’s Twitter account is well-known for being run by students, which has caused problems in the past. This mishap serves as a reminder to any organization – always be careful of what’s getting tweeted, especially if it’s a big scoop by a not-so-reputable source.
