Syracuse, N.Y. – Jim Boeheim addressed mask-wearing on the Syracuse sidelines after Saturday’s game at Boston College.

The Syracuse basketball coach introduced the topic during his radio show last week. He has tried at least three different mask/shield combinations since the season started. He has been photographed and viewed on television with his mask down. People have remarked about it.

“For anybody’s information, I do have trouble breathing with a mask. I have bad nasal passages,” he said. “So when I’m on the court, I pull it down to make myself heard and I’m 20 feet away from anybody. If I’m sitting in my chair, I’m 10 feet away from anybody.

“Then when you go in the huddle, I gotta take it down to talk to them. I can’t talk to them through the mask. They don’t hear me. The rest of the time I try to keep it up, try to keep it there. But it’s been hard for me. It’s a hard adjustment. But I’m doing the best I can with it.”

Covid-19 has prompted safety protocols across the nation. The NCAA and its conferences, including the ACC, require athletes and coaches to physically distance and wear masks in the bench areas to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Boeheim was diagnosed with Covid last month. Because of that positive result, he will not need to be tested again for 120 days, according to the ACC’s medical advisory board. Everybody in the SU men’s and women’s basketball programs is subjected to three Covid tests per week during the 2020-21 season. The ACC considers those to be higher-risk sports.

At any rate, Covid protocols have prompted college basketball coaches to try a variety of masks in an effort to comply with directions from their conferences and comfortably coach a game. It’s not unusual to see coaches tug them down to make a point.

NBA coaches are required to wear masks this season, too. There are plenty of options out there: