So what have Syracuse basketball head coach Gerry McNamara and his assistants sought out in their roster additions to date this offseason?
SU assistant coach Ryan Daly, who joined the Orange from VCU, provided insights into that topic during a podcast interview with Syracuse.com. It's a great interview!
He notes that the 'Cuse staff has focused on "kids who play hard, practice hard, compete, and then also who have a little bit of proven production with some interesting upside swings."
McNamara, in various interviews since taking over the program in March, has said he wants to bring in players who are gritty and tough, who have high character, who give their maximum effort all the time, who want to win above everything else, who get after it defensively, who are selfless teammates, who take care of the ball with precision and who are efficient on offense, among other traits.
Quality free-throw shooting, I might add, appears to be another key characteristic (thankfully). Daly, by the way, echoed a lot of McNamara's recent thoughts in his chat with Syracuse.com that aired this week.
Syracuse basketball has two open scholarships left for the 2026-27 season.
According to Syracuse.com, players on the Orange's roster for the upcoming campaign feel that they "have something to prove." Said Daly: "I think everyone probably has a chip on their shoulder as players."
This part I found interesting. Daly compared recruiting in the transfer portal with speed dating. He said it's vital to "get the right intel" when evaluating potential recruits, focus on players' character and recognize that "the talent will figure itself out once you get them with you."
To be fair, the 2026-27 roster that the 'Cuse staff has constructed possesses talent. Of the team's six college transfers and three prep signees - nine pledges in total - seven of these players are rated four stars by at least one recruiting service.
That's pretty solid, especially considering that McNamara was hired as SU's head coach just a few weeks before the transfer portal opened, and some of his assistants were officially announced by Syracuse Athletics after the portal had opened for business.
Daly says that he likes the roster's "perimeter size" - and I agree with him there. Of the team's main rotational players for 2026-27, only one of them is below 6-foot-5 (hi, 2-3 zone defense).
In terms of SU's forwards and centers, Daly assessed it this way: "I think we have some frontcourt options who are proven, and then we have some younger guys who are joining the fold who are really talented."
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