Gerry McNamara dishes on Syracuse roster retention, assistant coaches and 2026 class

New Syracuse basketball head coach Gerry McNamara touched on a variety of topics during an interview on Wednesday with the ESPN Radio Syracuse program "Orange Nation."

Most notably, McNamara said that he will have one-on-one meetings with current members of the Orange roster on Thursday. GMac says that those meetings will give him a much better feel about roster retention for the 2026-27 campaign.

McNamara said that he watched every 'Cuse game this past term, when SU went 15-17 overall. Syracuse basketball, in 2025-26, had 13 main scholarship players. I anticipate that some of those guys will return and some will enter the transfer portal, which will be open from April 7 to April 21.

For the Orange's 2026-27 roster, McNamara said it could include a freshman or two, which is notable, since SU doesn't have a commit in the high school senior class. As I noted earlier on Wednesday, Siena 2026 signee Ryan Moesch, a 2026 four-star point guard and Central New York native, could be a potential candidate to join the 'Cuse.

Syracuse basketball head coach Gerry McNamara is ready to get to work.

McNamara did a wonderful job as Siena's head coach, turning around a program that won four games the season before he came on board to a squad that, in 2025-26, sported a 23-12 record and nearly upset No. 1 seed Duke last week in the NCAA Tournament's first round.

Now, GMac says it's time to get the Orange, a group that hasn't made the Big Dance since 2021, back on track. "I'm coming back with a job to do," he said, adding that his success at Siena gives him even more confidence that he can thrive as SU's head coach.

McNamara replaces Adrian Autry as Syracuse basketball's head coach. GMac says he talks to Red all the time, and that their relationship is always going to be based on love and respect.

Earlier this month, Toledo athletics director Bryan Blair was named to the same post at Syracuse. McNamara says that he and Blair are aligned on many things, with the most important facet being that they are both ultra-competitive and each of them wants to win.

In the next few days, McNamara says that his assistant coaching staff is expected to be rolled out. He declined to get into specifics, other than to say that his staff will include some top-level coaches and recruiters and there will be "some familiarity."

Two of McNamara's assistants at Siena are former Orange players. They are Ryan Blackwell and Arinze Onuaku. Take that for what it's worth.

McNamara's Syracuse program will include players who form a brotherhood, who are "incredibly" connected, and who give their maximum effort on every single play. That's highly encouraging to hear. It's all about character, loyalty and trust to GMac.

At Siena over the past two seasons, the Saints possessed a highly efficient offense, and he wants that to transpire at the Orange, too. He noted that the 'Cuse fan base is "hungry and ready" to see Syracuse basketball succeed, evidenced by Orange hoops raising several hundred thousand dollars earlier this week on SU's "giving day."

If Syracuse basketball improves its product on the court, that will only increase fan engagement and donations to the program, which is critical these days amid direct revenue-sharing and third-party NIL deals, McNamara says.