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Syracuse set to hire Gerry McNamara as head basketball coach

Chris Graham
ACC Tournament 2026
Photo: Mike Ingalls/AFP

Syracuse is making the splash hire to try to replace Jim Boeheim a second time, going with another Boeheim acolyte, Gerry McNamara, who just had Siena thisclose to an upset of #1 Duke in the NCAA Tournament.

McNamara, 37-30 in two seasons as the head coach at Siena, will replace another former ‘Cuse player and long-time Boeheim assistant, Adrian Autry, who was fired earlier this month after going 49-48 in three seasons as the head coach at Syracuse.

Lost in the what’s wrong with Syracuse Basketball handwringing is, the last few years under Boeheim weren’t all that good, either.

Boeheim’s last five seasons in the Big East and Year 1 in the ACC saw ‘Cuse average 29.5 wins, with two Sweet 16s, an Elite 8 and a Final Four.

His last six seasons: 18.7 wins per season, four total NCAA Tournament wins, and his last two teams didn’t get NCAA invites.

ESPN is reporting that the athletics department at Syracuse is pledging to a budget for NIL and revenue-sharing that would be in the upper third of the ACC going forward.

I’m sure Adrian Autry is happy hearing that they’re doing that now, and didn’t think to try that, you know, in any of his three years on the job.

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Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, TikTok, BlueSky, or subscribe to Substack or his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].