Former Syracuse basketball data analyst Eugene Tulyagijja has moved on to the pros.
Tulyagijja confirmed to me on Thursday that he has joined the NBA's New York Knicks as the team's assistant director of coaching analytics. A huge congrats to Eugene!
The Knicks figure to be one of the NBA's top teams again in the 2025-26 season, which got underway earlier this week. Last season, New York was a No. 3 seed in the playoffs and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, where the Knicks fell to the No. 4 seed, the Indiana Pacers.
On Wednesday, in New York's 2025-26 campaign opener, the Knicks beat Cleveland at home by a final of 119-111. Earlier this month, Orange legend and former Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, who is serving as a studio analyst for NBC Sports' coverage of the NBA this season, said he thinks that New York is well-positioned to be the Eastern Conference's top team in 2025-26.
Through a spokesperson, the Syracuse basketball program on Thursday declined to comment on Tulyagijja taking a position with the New York Knicks.
Former Syracuse basketball data analyst Eugene Tulyagijja has a new gig in the NBA.
In late October of last year, the Orange announced the naming of Tulyagijja as a data analyst at Syracuse basketball. It was a smart hire by head coach Adrian Autry amid the ever-changing landscape in college athletics, inclusive of revenue-sharing, NIL, the transfer portal's explosion and ongoing conference realignment.
Tulyagijja graduated from SU in 2024 with a bachelor's degree in sport analytics. In this role, he was responsible for, among other things, "in-depth, on-court player analytics, advanced scouting, and detailed coaching performance study," according to a press release announcing his hiring last fall.
It's unclear at this time whether Syracuse basketball has found a replacement for Tulyagijja, or if it even plans to; on Thursday, the SU Athletics Web site still had a bio up for Tulyagijja, and there wasn't any other data analyst listed there.
While on the Hill, Tulyagijja had worked in tandem with the program's general manager, former NBA scout Alex Kline. Kline, also an SU alum, joined the 'Cuse in June of 2024. He had most recently served as a scout with the New York Knicks, and Kline was a key reason why Syracuse basketball fared extremely well in the transfer portal this past offseason.
Earlier this month, Syracuse women's basketball named its first general manager, Mykala Walker. Most recently, Walker was an assistant coach at Arizona State under head coach Natasha Adair. In late May of this year, Adair was named the Orange's associate head coach.