but it did clear up at least one thing
Over the last few years, one of the most polarizing things around the Syracuse Orange has been Adam Weitsman.
The billionaire best friend of Jim Boeheim brought a lot of attention with his celebrity guests on the Dome’s sideline, but according to this week’s Syracuse.com story, the donations he brought weren’t what many claimed – as Boeheim himself told everyone back in his final season.
“This is an awful place we’re in in college basketball,” he said. “Pittsburgh bought a team. OK, fine. My [big donor] talks about it, but he doesn’t give anyone any money. Nothing. Not one guy. Our guys make like $20,000. Wake Forest bought a team. Miami bought a team. … It’s like, ‘Really, this is where we are?’ That’s really where we are, and it’s only going to get worse.”
Weitsman himself showed that he had nine NIL deals worth $153,000, with the largest deals ($30k each) to Alijah Clark and Dyaisha Fair. The deal with Fair is significant because her fifth year pushed the Orange women to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament, and certainly Clark played an important role in football’s 2024 success.
For the last couple of years, a group of fans have clamored for Syracuse to mend the relationship with Weitsman as NIL exploded across the country. The receipts he provided show that he was a contributor, but not at the level a lot of fans want to believe. The bulk of his University donations were related to the courtside seats and suite at the Dome – again significant, but not at the level of others.
Weitsman claimed that the University pushed him out, and this week’s story by Chris Carlson and Mike Waters presents more he said/they said and adds in some drama between Weitsman and the Lally’s with Orange alum Etan Thomas thrown in between.
At this point, none of this does any good for the Orange. I’m not here to pick sides but it’s clear Syracuse will side with the people who put up $25 million, and in the process re-energized a lot of boosters on the football side.
Dragging it back out in public doesn’t seem to benefit any of the parties involved. It showed Weitsman wasn’t dishing out the money like others. It showed that Syracuse wasn’t eager to keep him around as a booster, even as the basketball program floundered.
It’s great that Weitsman does a lot of philanthropic work and that he brought some fun to the Dome with his guests, but if he wasn’t willing to meet his promise of a five-star recruit in Boeheim’s final season, why would people think he’d do it now? It’s time to close the chapter and we can bring back the courtside celebrity tracker for the guests of the Anthony Family.