One of Syracuse basketball's best teams ever came back in the 2009-10 campaign. That squad went 30-5 overall and reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
However, that 'Cuse group also has a big "what-if" attached to it. As in, what if talented big man Arinze Onuaku didn't get injured in the Big East Tournament, forcing him to miss the Big Dance? Syracuse basketball, a No. 1 seed, lost to No. 5 seed Butler in the Sweet 16.
Many SU fans, myself included, believe that if Onuaku were healthy, the Orange would have claimed its second national championship. Either way, it was a fabulous 'Cuse team, and Onuaku finds himself back on the Hill, this time as an assistant coach at the program.
New head coach Gerry McNamara is filling out his assistant coaching staff amid the transfer portal opening for business on Tuesday and running through April 21. This week, McNamara has announced three assistant coaches - Onuaku, Ben Lee and Ryan Daly.
A fourth Syracuse basketball assistant will reportedly be Penn State associate head coach Jamal Brunt. The Orange can have up to five assistant coaches, and SU should also have a general manager on staff at some point.
Syracuse basketball head coach Gerry McNamara is rounding out his staff.
Onuaku and Lee were assistant coaches at Siena for the past two seasons, while McNamara served as the Saints' head coach. Siena, in 2025-26, went 23-12 overall and reached this spring's NCAA Tournament.
Lee was also previously an assistant coach at Washington under head coach Mike Hopkins, the former long-time Orange assistant. Lee is from Great Neck, N.Y.
Onuaku, from Lanham, Md., in the talent-rich DMV, was previously an assistant coach with the Washington Wizards' G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go. He was also an assistant coach at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C.
Prior to joining SU, Daly was an assistant coach at VCU. He also held assistant coaching posts at Bryant and Albany. Daly is from the Philadelphia area.
Brunt, who hails from Baltimore, has been an assistant at Randolph-Macon, Richmond, Miami, VCU and, most recently, Penn State.Â
McNamara's four assistants come from New York, the DMV, the Philadelphia region and Baltimore. Those are key recruiting markets for Syracuse basketball along the Northeast corridor.