Syracuse Basketball: Is Adrian Autry on the hot seat? National writers weigh in.

I've said on numerous occasions of late that regardless of how this season wraps up for Syracuse basketball, I believe that head coach Adrian Autry will be back on the Hill for a third campaign in the 2025-26 term.

Given how 2024-25 has gone to date for the Orange, some 'Cuse fans want a new head coach next season. Some fans want Autry gone now. I understand these sentiments, even if I don't agree with them.

National writers at CBS Sports, in recent days, gave their thoughts on 17 "underwhelming" head coaches in college basketball and where they reside in "hot seat rankings."

Autry falls into the "situations to monitor" category, according to CBS Sports. National writer Cameron Salerno says in part, "Syracuse wasn't expected to be an NCAA Tournament team, but there was hope the program could make some strides this season. That hasn't happened. The Orange recently blew a 16-point first-half lead and have bad losses on their résumé to Pitt, Miami, Stanford and Florida State. Syracuse went 20-12 (11-9 ACC play) in the first season post-Jim Boeheim but won't sniff that mark this season."

To be fair, in the Atlantic Coast Conference's preseason poll, the 'Cuse was projected to finish at No. 11 in the league standings. Earlier this week, at home, the Orange (12-16, 6-11 in the ACC) beat N.C. State and when I wrote this article, Syracuse basketball resided in a tie for No. 13 in the ACC standings.

With a win at Virginia Tech this Saturday afternoon, the 'Cuse could climb even higher. Am I happy with how this season has progressed? Of course not. Do I think that Autry should get a third term? I do.

Adrian Autry's job status with Syracuse basketball is constantly being discussed by fans these days.

Let's not forget that in his first year after replacing the legendary Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim, Autry guided the Orange to 20 regular-season triumphs for the first time in a decade. I thought that was solid.

In 2024-25, the 'Cuse has regressed. There's no way to deny that. And some of the accountability has to be directed at Autry and his coaching staff. Yet this season, Syracuse basketball did have a vastly revamped roster, and some recent media reports have spoken to the Orange lagging behind other programs in NIL funds as well as 'Cuse coaches not faring all that well with their portal recruiting efforts.

Now, I believe that Syracuse University leaders are working to improve things. For one, SU Athletics recently announced a campaign to raise $50 million over the next three years, and SU Athletics also intends to directly distribute the maximum NIL amount of approximately $20.5 million in 2025-26 to its student-athletes in revenue-sharing, assuming a judge approves a proposed settlement of several federal antitrust lawsuits.

Later this year, Syracuse basketball will play in a NIL-driven tournament known as the Players Era Festival, which will be held in Las Vegas and should provide at least $1 million in NIL payouts to all participating schools.

So perhaps things, from a financial standpoint, are going to trend in a positive direction. Naturally, this doesn't mean that the Orange in 2025-26 will fare well on the court. That will depend on the team's 2025-26 roster, player development and coaching.

Personally, I'm a big fan of Autry. He was a star player on the Hill. Clearly, he can recruit, evidenced by 2024 five-star signee Donnie Freeman and the Orange's 2025 class that currently ranks in the top 10 nationally.

Again, though, recruiting at the high school level is one thing. Portal recruiting continues to take on more and more importance. And as much as I like Autry, if he has a losing record in 2025-26, I think a change will have to be made.

As I've discussed on the radio in Syracuse and during podcasts of late, if Autry didn't win 20 games in his first season as the Syracuse basketball head coach, I could understand a head-coaching change being made after this season.

But you've got to give him three seasons, right? Boeheim, in a recent appearance on ESPN Radio Syracuse, stressed that Autry deserves more time. If SU Athletics hired someone from outside the Boeheim coaching tree to replace him, and that new head coach had Autry's record through nearly two full seasons on the Hill, would fans be calling for that head coach to be fired?

It's something I've been thinking about lately. Let's also not forget that general manager Alex Kline, who was only hired in late June of 2024, should prove a terrific asset when it comes to NIL, player development and recruiting via the portal and at the prep level.

Salerno also wrote: "There is hope that Syracuse could turn it around and make a jump during the 2025-26 season, assuming the program can maintain its incoming recruiting class led by four-star guard Kiyan Anthony, the son of NBA legend and one of the greatest players in Syracuse program history, Carmelo Anthony. Firing Autry now runs the risk of Anthony and/or fellow incoming four-star forward Sadiq White Jr. backing off their respective pledges to Syracuse. It may be too early to let Autry go, but the returns this season aren't up to the standard Boeheim built."

Boeheim only had one losing season in Central New York over 47 campaigns at the helm of the 'Cuse. But his combined record over his last two terms with Syracuse basketball was 33-32.

Autry, so far, is 32-28 as the Orange's head coach. Just saying.