ESPN analyst Jay Bilas believes Syracuse's Buddy Boehm's suspension was not necessary, stating that it was "simply wrong" and "disproportionate to the crime".
Senior guard and coach Jim Boehm's son appeared to punch FSU's Wyatt Wilkes in the stomach after scoring in the first half. There was no foul call, but the ACC later announced a one-game suspension.
In a video posted on Twitter on Wednesday night, Bilas expressed concern over how the conference has handled the suspension.
The suspension of Buddy Boeheim is just wrong. pic.twitter.com/80lg4C1AEp
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) March 10, 2022
"The suspension of Syracuse's Buddy Boehm for what happened at the Florida State game is wrong," Bilas said. "The ACC came after the fact and decided to suspend Buddy Boehm. It's disproportionate to the offense. The rules are the rules and the rules of the game indicate if the game started after the fact, and the action is not reviewed." Saki, so it's final. And it was final. Referees couldn't review play after play resumed. They missed, and that's okay.
"Now the ACC can condemn the action and issue a reprimand. But suspending Buddy Boehm for the next game against Duke is disproportionate to the offense and feels wrong to me. It effectively ended Buddy Boehm's career. It affects the ACC tournament and I don't think that's the right thing to do. Rules are rules and those rules were written for a reason."
Boehm's suspension will leave Syracuse without their star player in the second round of the ACC tournament, as they prepare to face Duke.
Bilas continued to explain why the suspension was a wrong decision by the ACC and how the call "goes against the rules of the game."
"If as per the rules the referee can go back and review the game after the game starts, that's fine. So maybe it's a major two and Buddy Boehm is kicked out of the Florida State game. But game over. Once it's done, it's over. Just like you can't review someone who goes out of range or charge/block calls after the game, you can't review it," Bilas continued. "The question is of proportionality. No one is saying what happened was right. It wasn't. Buddy Boehm apologizes and that's great. But ACC should have gone ahead and played Buddy Boehm against Duke." It's a wrong decision taken by the ACC. It's wrong because it's not proportionate. It's disproportionate to the offense and it's against the rules of the game."