Syracuse Men’s Basketball was turned down by its top head coaching candidate. So the question is: what’s next?
Let’s take a look at a favorite, two contenders, and a longshot for the SU coaching job.
Favorite: Siena Head Coach Gerry McNamara
As soon as USF head coach Brian Hodgson decided he would not join the Orange, attention seemingly shifted towards McNamara.
Although he has refused to publicly comment on the opening, McNamara has become a popular candidate thanks to his previous ties to SU as both a player and assistant coach.
He’s seen success very early on in his coaching career, bringing Siena to the NCAA Tournament after winning the MAAC Championship in just his second season leading the charge.
Despite becoming the apparent favorite for the job, his limited experience as a head coach could be seen as an alarming weakness.
Contenders: UConn Assistants Luke Murray and Kimani Young
Even if McNamara doesn’t have much head coaching experience, he does have more than the next two names on this list.
Luke Murray has spent the last 5 seasons as an assistant for UConn, marking 9 seasons with head coach Dan Hurley across 3 programs. In every season with Murray on the staff, the Huskies have posted a top 25 offensive unit in basketball, most notably becoming the nation’s best offense in 2023-2024.
Kimani Young was a part of Hurley’s initial staff back in 2018-2019 and has been with UConn ever since. He’s most notably made a name for himself as one of the top recruiting assistants in the country.
Both assistants were a part of the 2023 and 2024 NCAA National Championship winning teams for the Huskies.
Longshot: New Orleans Pelicans Assistant Mike Hopkins
Pelicans assistant Mike Hopkins comes in as the longshot on this list. He spent time with Syracuse as both a player and assistant, and served as the interim head coach for the Orange during the 2015-2016 season while Jim Boeheim served a nine-game NCAA suspension.
Hopkins was named the successor to Jim Boeheim, and was set to take over during the 2017-2018 season, but shockingly wound up taking the head coaching job at Washington University. The Huskies managed just one NCAA Tournament appearance under Hopkins, moving on after the 2023-2024 season.
