Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim struck and killed a man in a freak accident while driving home Wednesday night after his Orange defeated Louisville.
The hoops Hall of Famer was headed east on Interstate 690 at 11:22 p.m. when his car fatally struck Jorge Jiminez on the side of the highway, cops said. The victim was riding in a car with three other people a short time earlier when their vehicle skidded out of control and into a guardrail, police said.
The car wound up in the middle of the highway, with the driver and his passengers leaving the damaged vehicle and walking away from the wreck, according to cops.
Boeheim, 74, swerved to avoid the abandoned car as he drove past and struck the 51-year-old Jiminez, cops said.
"Both drivers remained on the scene, and are cooperating with this investigation," read a statement from Syracuse police. "Field sobriety and alco-sensor tests for both drivers were negative for any sign of impairment."
Police issued no tickets in the crash that occurred shortly after Syracuse was hit by a freezing rain. The victim was pronounced dead at Upstate University Hospital, police said.
Boeheim, the Syracuse coach for the last 43 years, directed his 18-8 team to a 69-49 triumph over 18th-ranked Louisville shortly before the fatal accident.
The coach was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005, and led the Orange to five Final Fours and a national championship in 2003.
There was no immediate comment from the university or the coach on the deadly crash.
