John Wildhack reflects on the 'really hard decision' in naming Jim Boeheim's successor

John Wildhack's last day as Syracuse's athletics director, after a 10-year run, came earlier this week, on June 30. The next day, on July 1, Bryan Blair officially took over as the Orange's athletics director.

Wildhack, in a radio interview earlier this week, discussed a variety of topics, including his decision to promote Adrian Autry from associate head coach to the head coach of Syracuse men's basketball after the legendary Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim retired in March of 2023 after 47 seasons at the helm of the program.

Wildhack says that both Autry and Gerry McNamara, who was an assistant coach under Boeheim, wanted the job as the next 'Cuse head coach. Ultimately, Wildhack hired Autry, who lasted three seasons as the Orange's head coach.

Syracuse basketball would go 49-48 overall under Autry, including a 20-12 mark in the first campaign and then two straight losing terms after that. In his radio interview, Wildhack acknowledged that things didn't work out with Autry at the helm. His first year was good, Wildhack said, but the next two seasons were not good.

John Wildhack says it was a tough decision to hire Adrian Autry over Gerry McNamara.

When Autry was promoted to SU's head coach, I was fine with it. He had been an assistant for years, and it made sense for him to get the gig, assuming that Wildhack and other decision-makers wanted to hire from within the 'Cuse family.

Of course, McNamara would go on to be named the head coach of Siena. He turned that program around in his two seasons there, reaching the NCAA Tournament this past spring. After Autry was fired, a national search was conducted, and in March, McNamara was hired.

Wildhack says that, in the spring of 2023, he picked Autry, and it was a "really hard decision to make," because he knew he was going to disappoint one of them. That's tough, Wildhack added, because the former SU athletics director knew he was going to disappoint either Autry or McNamara, and Wildhack likes and respects them both.

Wildhack said that Autry and McNamara both wanted the job to succeed Boeheim, they both "approached it the right way," and both of them said that if they didn't get the job, they hoped the other one would get it.

I'd love to know more details about why Wildhack hired Autry over McNamara to replace Boeheim. I assume, in large part, it was because Autry was the Orange's associate head coach and had been a college assistant for longer than McNamara.

When Autry was promoted, some 'Cuse fans, like me, were fine with it. Other fans wanted McNamara or a hire outside the Boeheim family tree. It didn't work out with Autry. So be it. McNamara has the job now.

Autry and McNamara both bleed Orange. They sat next to each other last weekend at the DMV Live event in Hyattsville, Md., as they both evaluated a recruit. Autry is now an assistant at fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school Virginia, which is awesome.

Meanwhile, McNamara is Syracuse basketball's first-year head coach. He's trying to get SU back to the annual Big Dance for the first time since 2021. Did Wildhack get it wrong in choosing Autry over McNamara to replace Boeheim?

Perhaps. Regardless, McNamara has his chance to turn around the Orange, and Autry should be a terrific assistant and recruiter in Charlottesville, Va.

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