Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim will appeal NCAA's 'unduly harsh' punishment

Syracuse men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim on Thursday accepted responsibility for his program's litany of infractions, but said the NCAA's case against the Orange was overblown and that he would appeal its stiff punishment.

"This is far from a program where student-athletes freely committed academic fraud," Boeheim said in a press conference. "I believe the penalty is unduly harsh."

Earlier this month, the NCAA stripped Syracuse's hoops program of 12 scholarships, vacated 108 of Boeheim's career wins, and suspended Boeheim for nine games. The punishment came after a multi-year investigation concluded the school's athletic department was complicit in a range of academic misconduct, including a shady behind-the-scenes effort to change a star player's grades.

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The 70-year-old Boeheim announced this week he would retire in three years.