Everyone understands the role sports play — the camaraderie, the sense of community, and the way they bring people together. In a society full of differences and division, it’s often something as simple as a child’s game that unites us.
For over 50 years, this was the JMA Dome — or “The Loud House” — which, on any given spring weeknight or weekend, would pack more than 30,000 of Syracuse men’s basketball’s biggest fans under one roof. Students, alumni, and the community alike bonded over one shared purpose. That energy was on full display in February 2019, when top-ranked Duke arrived on the Hill and nearly 36,000 fans packed the Dome — the largest crowd in college basketball history.
How quickly things can change.
In 18 home games this season, Syracuse averaged just over 17,000 fans — the second-lowest mark since the Dome opened in 1980, and only a few hundred more than last season’s historically low turnout, when the Orange suffered their most losses in nearly 50 years. But the decline in attendance isn’t because fans don’t care. Rather, the result of some of the worst seasons in program history.
In three seasons with Adrian Autry at the helm, the Orange went 49-48, winning only 40% of their ACC games. In that stretch, SU extended its program-long 5 year drought without an NCAA tournament appearance.
In this, — after the firing of Autry in February — it was clear that SU’s next head basketball coach needed to fulfill one major requirement: restore belief in a program in dire need of hope.
The answer: Garry McNamara, a star guard on Syracuse’s 2003 national championship team who later spent years as an assistant with the Orange before being named Siena’s head coach in 2024. And G-Mac made an instant impact. Just two seasons after the Saints went 4–28 in 2023, he led them to a MAAC Tournament championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance – feats the program hadn’t achieved since 2009.
And yesterday — a seemingly ordinary Monday afternoon in March — the foundation of a new era was laid, as more than 4,000 fans packed into the JMA Dome to welcome back Gerry McNamara.
Yes, 4,000 people. A number which left incoming AD Bryan Blair in awe at the podium, saying “Wow. This right here, does not happen anywhere else.”
After two short videos displayed above the newly renovated Micron Victory Court — one looking back at McNamara’s playing days and the other filled with congratulations from former teammates and coaches — he was finally called to the stand.
His first words: “This is my dream job.” The SU faithful erupted, chanting in unison: “Gerry! Gerry! Gerry!”
He quickly thought back to his first conversation with Bryan Blair, the former Toledo AD, who told him, “I just want to win. Plain and simple.” McNamara said at that moment, “You’re speaking my language now.”
McNamara, 42, spoke at length about his upbringing in Scranton, Pennsylvania, his gratitude for his family — who moved with him from Greece to Laurelville and Bakersfield, New York — and his first visit to Syracuse as a scrawny 17-year-old. Recalling that first trip to upstate New York, saying “I knew man, I knew right away. I’m coming to school here.”
He went home that night dreaming of a packed Dome and championship banners hanging from the rafters — a dream shared by Orange nation 26 years later.
During his nearly 18-minute speech, McNamara’s determination to restore Syracuse to the top of college basketball was impossible to miss. When asked if the Cuse faithful should expect to see meaningful games in March, he responded candidly: “Part of being at Syracuse University is the basketball team should be good. That is a non-negotiable. That should be part of your journey as a student.”
For SU’s senior class – like the 2025 graduates – the magic of March Madness and the sold out JMA Dome has long been absent.
As made crystal clear on Monday, Garry McNamara might be the perfect fit to pack the Dome once again. But results, or at least signs of life, must come first.
Thankfully for Syracuse, G-Mac is addicted to winning and obsessed with delivering results. His parting words: “Anyone that knows me knows why I’m here. I’m here to win. It’s who I am. And it’s who I will always be.”
