Vice President Joe Biden offered some encouraging words Sunday to Syracuse’s men’s basketball team after a tough loss in the “Final Four” round of NCAA March Madness tournament.
“You gave it a hell of a run,” he told the players in the locker room after the underdog team lost 83-66 to the North Carolina Tar Heels in Houston, Texas.
Biden, a Delaware native, is a graduate of Syracuse’s law school. He gave a shout out to Orange guard Trevor Cooney, saying he is as good an athlete as his grandfather, with whom Biden went to high school.
The vice president also complimented coach Jim Boeheim.
“What a hell of a run. Coach I felt badly coming in but I wanted to thank you,” Biden said as he leaned forward for a handshake. “You are the best damn coach in the country — you really are.”
Biden concluded by saying he knows that it is difficult to lose, but, he thanked the team for “all the joy you gave us this year.”
According to Syracuse.com, upon exiting the locker room, Biden told reporters, “Those Syracuse kids are a helluva bunch of kids.”
The vice president attended the game with his wife, Jill Biden, to promote the “It’s On Us” campaign, which is committed to ending campus sexual assault.
