Syracuse University appears to have concluded its coaching search, with Gerry McNamara, former Orange guard and current Siena head coach, expected to take over the men’s basketball program.
McNamara, 42, is no stranger to Syracuse. He played a key role on the 2003 national championship team and earned all-conference honors twice (2005, 2006). After his playing days, he spent more than a decade as an assistant coach with the Orange from 2011 to 2024.
At Siena, McNamara quickly made his mark as a head coach. In two seasons, he compiled a 37–32 record, taking a team that had won just 4 games in 2023 to a MAAC tournament championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance, where the Saints came within a whisker of upsetting top-seeded Duke in the first round.
Now, McNamara returns to his alma mater to try and fix a program that has struggled in recent years. Under Adrian Autry, Syracuse went 49–48 overall in three seasons, including a 15–17 record in 2025–26 with a 6–12 mark in ACC play. The Orange missed the NCAA Tournament all three years, extending the Orange’s drought to five straight seasons, and finished with back-to-back losing records, something the program hasn’t seen in decades.
He faces a tall task, but he brings a unique combination of program familiarity, coaching success, and firsthand knowledge of what it takes to win at Syracuse. Something that checks all the boxes for SU.
The deal is expected to be finalized in the coming days.
