Well, well. This is interesting.
College basketball insider Adam Zagoria is reporting that former longtime Syracuse basketball assistant coach Mike Hopkins is being targeted by Siena as the Saints' next head coach. If that were to occur, Hopkins would replace Gerry McNamara at the helm of Siena, which is a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference ("MAAC").
Siena Targeting Mike Hopkins As Next Basketball Coach via @forbes https://t.co/ptIjxNbSmY pic.twitter.com/CAQVXLAFVE
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 27, 2026
McNamara, also a former longtime Orange assistant coach, was named the new head coach of the 'Cuse earlier this week, replacing Adrian Autry, who went 49-48 at his alma mater over the past three seasons.
In the 2025-26 stanza, Siena went 23-12 overall, winning the MAAC Tournament. The Saints, as a No. 16 seed in the 2026 Big Dance, nearly knocked off No. 1 seed Duke in the first round of this spring's NCAA Tournament.
Currently, Hop is an assistant coach with the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans. Last year, the former Syracuse basketball shooting guard from San Mateo, Calif., was on the staff of another NBA team, the Phoenix Suns.
Mike Hopkins could replace GMac at Siena, which is kind of awesome.
After Autry was fired on March 11, the rumor mill started to explode about possible candidates to replace him. McNamara's name surfaced a lot, while Hopkins' name was mentioned some, too.
Hopkins was on the Orange coaching staff for 22 seasons and, on June 25, 2015, he was named the head coach-designate to succeed the legendary Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim.
However, in March of 2017, Hop became the new head coach at Washington, a longtime member of the Pac-12 Conference that is now in the Big Ten Conference. Hopkins was the Huskies' head coach from 2017 to 2024, compiling an overall record of 118-106.
He made the NCAA Tournament once at Washington, in 2019, and Hopkins was twice named the Pac-12 coach of the year. Should he take over at Siena, he'll have to contend with a roster in transition.
Amid GMac departing for SU and the transfer portal opening on April 7, Siena star sophomore guard Gavin Doty, for one, plans to enter the portal. Additionally, Siena 2026 commit Ryan Moesch, a four-star point guard and Central New York native, has reportedly received his release from Siena to reopen his recruitment.