Syracuse Basketball: Gerry McNamara embracing 'Cuse family as he builds Siena program

Late last month, former Syracuse basketball star and associate head coach Gerry McNamara, who is beloved by Orange Nation, left the Hill for his first head-coaching gig, leading Siena.

Since that time, McNamara has hit the ground running in building out his coaching staff and securing commitments from various players for the 2024-25 season and beyond. And some of these developments include ties to the greater 'Cuse family, which I absolutely love.

According to recent announcements from the Siena hoops squad, McNamara has officially announced at least three assistant-coaching hires to date.

One is Ben Lee, who is a new assistant coach at Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference ("MAAC") member Siena, a school located in Loudonville, N.Y., near Albany. Lee, most recently, served as an assistant at Washington, where he worked under the former head coach there, Mike Hopkins.

Coach Hop, as we all know, is a former Syracuse basketball player and long-time 'Cuse assistant under the legendary Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim, who retired in March of last year. Hopkins and McNamara are extremely close; Hop actually recruited GMac to play for the Orange, and McNamara was instrumental in Syracuse basketball winning the 2003 national championship.

Former Syracuse basketball legend Gerry McNamara is embracing the 'Cuse family while leading Siena.

McNamara has also named former Orange star Ryan Blackwell as an assistant coach, which is awesome. Blackwell, most recently, was the head coach for nine seasons at Liverpool High School in Liverpool, N.Y., near Syracuse.

While there, per a press release from the Siena athletics department, Blackwell guided Liverpool to five sectional titles and the New York state Class AA championship in 2018. He also served as the head coach of Boeheim's Army, leading that collection of former Syracuse basketball standouts and other players to The Basketball Tournament (“TBT”) crown in the summer of 2021.

Additionally, former 'Cuse big man Arinze Onuaku has also joined Siena as an assistant coach. This past season, he was an assistant coach at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. Before that, he was an assistant coach of the Capital City Go-Go, the NBA G League affiliate of the Washington Wizards.

It's positively wonderful to see GMac bring on board several former Syracuse basketball players to his staff at Siena.

I also saw posts on social media indicating that Xavier freshman wing Reid Ducharme is transferring to Siena. Ducharme, a four-star prospect in the 2023 class out of the Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H., was heavily recruited by the Orange while in high school.

He had the 'Cuse in his final three, along with Xavier and Penn State, before ultimately committing to the Musketeers out of the Big East Conference.

I was bummed when Ducharme chose Xavier in August of 2022. However, I'm unbelievably happy that Reid will be playing for GMac moving forward.

Earlier this month, former Syracuse basketball sophomore center Peter Carey said on Instagram that he would transfer to Siena, which is also fabulous.