Neil Gold at Boeheim gala.JPG

Neil Gold, left, attended the annual Basket Ball last Saturday and made the winning bid on Jim Boeheim's Duke "ejection jacket." With Gold is Chuck Merrihew.

(Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com)

Syracuse, N.Y. — Neil Gold had heard rumors that the jacket Jim Boeheim wore for his now infamous ejection from the Duke basketball game would be among the auction items available at the Jim and Juli

Boeheim Foundation's annual Basket Ball.

Gold, who stores his collection of at least 100 SU basketball-themed items in his Manlius basement devoted to the Orange, attended the Boeheim gala on Saturday with his wife, Helene. He had every intention, he said, of scoring the winning bid on that jacket.

"For somebody like me — this was perfect," said Gold. "It was the first time we played Duke at Cameron. It was the first time Coach was thrown out of a real game. It's part of Syracuse basketball lore now."

Syracuse fan Neil Gold poses in his Manlius home with the jacket, shirt and tie Jim Boeheim wore during the Duke game in Durham.

The auction, conducted that night by Boeheim, with assistance from television personalities Bill Raftery and Sean McDonough, occurred during the gala. Gold guessed the bidding started at $5,000. Because opposing bids happened at the opposite end of Turning Stone's Event Center ballroom, Gold wasn't sure what kind of financial firepower he was up against.

All Gold knows is that the bidding "went on for a while." Boeheim, at one point, promised to wear the jacket to the winner's house, Gold said.

"He called me out during the bidding, saying I was the No. 1 fan," Gold said. "He goaded me a little bit. Little did he know that I was fully intending to get that."

The bidding ended on Gold's $14,000 pledge. Gold's attendance at the Duke game, where he sat directly behind the Orange bench and witnessed the SU coach strip off the very jacket he now possesses, makes the purchase more precious.

"I was right behind Coach," Gold said, "and I was the next one to be ejected."

(Gold was not tossed from the game. He just loudly disagreed with Tony Greene's charging call on C.J. Fair, the source of all the drama.)

Gold said his phone has been "ringing off the hook" since his name became attached to the jacket. The $14,000 bid secured the jacket, shirt and tie Boeheim wore that day. The jacket has Boeheim's name stitched inside it. Gold isn't sure what size Boeheim wears, "but I would guess it's a 44 — which would be perfect."

"I'm totally thrilled. I have no regrets whatsoever," Gold said. "The fact that it was for such a great cause made it such a no-brainer to try to get it."