NEW YORK — The headline-grabber is that Jim Boeheim, Syracuse’s Hall of Fame coach, will be suspended for nine ACC games and forced to vacate enough victories to push him significantly down the all-time wins list. But here’s the truth: That nine-game suspension will be over in early February, less than a year from now, and the only thing really affected by the vacated wins is Boeheim’s place on a list most folks couldn’t care less about.

So, yeah, those things are the headline-grabbers.

But the lasting effect of those things is minimal, if not non-existent.

The killer?

That’s going to be the scholarship reductions announced by the NCAA on Friday afternoon. Simply put, they could genuinely hinder one of college basketball’s biggest brands for years — and in ways that most observing from a distance probably haven’t even considered.

Here are the details: Syracuse — as part of a wide-ranging penalty that’s the result of a wide-ranging investigation that uncovered a wide range of rules violations — will lose three scholarships for four consecutive years starting in the 2016-17 season. In other words, the Orange will, at best, be operating with just 10 scholarship players from 2016 to 2020.

Consequently, their recruiting net will be smaller than literally everybody else’s.

Any misses will be magnified and devastating.

It’ll be difficult to stay nationally relevant.

That seems undeniable.

But the other interesting aspect of all of this is the impact it could have on Syracuse well after the scholarship restrictions are lifted. Boeheim, you might’ve heard, will turn 71 later this year and is unlikely, most believe, to coach through 2020. That means the Orange will probably have to replace their iconic coach at some point before they enjoy a clean slate again, and which direction the school might go then has never been more unclear.

The plan, for a while now, has been to simply promote assistant Mike Hopkins.

And that could remain the plan, I suppose.

But what if Syracuse ultimately determines it’s just not in the school’s best interests to promote from a staff that, for the better part of a decade, ran a program in clear violation of NCAA rules? What if Syracuse decides it wants a clean break from the Boeheim era?

In that case, Syracuse would have to launch a national search. And what kind of reputable outside candidate, in this hypothetical situation, would be so foolish to A) replace an icon at a school that isn’t necessarily built to maintain success regardless of the coach, and B) run toward a program operating with only 10 scholarships through the 2019-2020 season?

I mean, somebody would take the job.

But the hiring process would be more difficult than it would be otherwise.

Either way, it’s difficult to feel sorry for Boeheim or anybody else connected to the program (other than the players who will miss this season’s NCAA Tournament because of no fault of their own). Regardless of what any of us think about the NCAA and its rules, the NCAA does have rules. And it’s obvious, after this long investigation, that Boeheim, for much of his career, has run a program that cared little about the rules. From boosters providing extra benefits to egregious acts of academic fraud, it’s all detailed in the report. So Syracuse is getting what Syracuse deserves, and what Syracuse is getting in the form of scholarship reductions will lower the ceiling on what’s likely for Jim Boeheim — and perhaps on what’s possible for the Orange well after Boeheim has delivered his final smirk from the sideline.