Upstate New York College Hoops Icon Spotted at Top Local Pizzeria
March Madness made its way to the Capital Region this past weekend, and as part of the festivities, a few familiar faces came to watch the action at The MVP Arena.
As Charlie Voelker wrote last week, legendary actor Bill Murray spent the weekend in Albany cheering on his son, Luke, who is an assistant coach with the UConn Huskies. Aside from Murray, there were a number of other notable names on the guest list in the Capital Region.
One such guest is a prominent Upstate New York sports figure, and he was spotted at a top Capital Region pizzeria this weekend.
Syracuse's Jim Boeheim Spotted at DeFazio's Pizzeria in Troy, NY
The great folks at DeFazio's Pizzeria in Troy, New York posted a photo on their Facebook page that caught the collective eye of Upstate New York basketball fans everywhere. Members of the DeFazio's staff posed for a photo with now-former Syracuse men's basketball head coach, Jim Boeheim, as well as former NBA coach, P.J. Carlesimo.
Here's the post from their Facebook page:
The caption on the Facebook post tells a very cool story, as the coaches remained in the restaurant until midnight talking basketball with the folks at DeFazio's. It's a great gesture from Boeheim and Carlesimo, especially when you consider how prominent Syracuse basketball has been for college hoops fans in the area in recent years.
Boeheim and the Orange parted ways after the conclusion of the 2022-23 season, one that saw Syracuse bow out of the ACC Tournament to Wake Forest last week. Boeheim coached the team for 47 seasons, and had a 61-year relationship with the university in total. He led the program to the NCAA Tournament a remarkable 35 times.
Carlesimo, meanwhile, has coached 554 games in the NBA, leading the charge in Portland, Golden State, as well as the Seattle/Oklahoma City franchise. He also coached the Brooklyn Nets during the 2012-13 season for 54 games on an interim basis.
He's most known in the basketball world for his time at Seton Hall. Carlesimo coached the program for 12 seasons, recording a 212–166 career record, and bringing the team to the NCAA Tournament for four straight seasons before departing for an NBA gig in 1994.
DeFazio's Pizzeria Considered One of Capital Region's Best Pizzerias
It should be no surprise that the coaches chose DeFazio's Pizzeria as their postgame meal location. DeFazio's is regarded as one of, if not the, best pizza spots in the Capital Region, and often has multiple-hour wait times for pizza orders on weekends.
Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy gave DeFazio's a very high rating, as part of his pizza review video series:
For most of us, we have to wait patiently for a pie from DeFazio's. For Coach Boeheim and Coach Carlesimo, however, I can imagine they can get a table anytime they'd like.