'We are going to build something special here,' says new Syracuse coach Gerry McNamara

SU Athletics officially announced former legendary player Gerry McNamara as the next head coach of Syracuse basketball on Tuesday morning. GMac, who engineered a tremendous turnaround over the past two years as Siena's head coach, replaces Adrian Autry on the Hill.

Autry went just 49-48 overall in his three campaigns guiding the 'Cuse. Syracuse basketball hasn't made the annual NCAA Tournament since 2021, and McNamara says he's fully aware of where the program currently resides, and what the Orange fan base expects moving forward.

"I love this place. I love what Syracuse means: to the fans, to the players who have worn this jersey, to the people of Central New York. This program has given me everything, and I am ready to give everything back to it," McNamara said in a press release published on cuse.com. "College basketball has changed. How you build a program, recruit talent, compete for resources and win looks different than it did even five years ago. I know that. I'm ready for it. What hasn't changed is what Orange Nation expects, and what this place deserves. We are going to build something special here."

McNamara is a top-five scorer in the history of the Syracuse basketball team. As a freshman, the Scranton, Pa., native helped lead the Orange to its first and only national title in 2003. In his two seasons at Siena, GMac went 37-30 overall.

Gerry McNamara is coming back home to lead his alma mater.

Last week, in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament, the No. 16 Saints nearly topped No. 1 overall seed Duke. The year before he joined Siena, the Saints won four games. In his first season there, Siena went 14-18 overall, followed by a 23-12 mark in the 2025-26 campaign.

Bryan Blair, who earlier this month was hired as SU's athletics director, noted that this is a "critical moment" for Orange hoops, given how the squad has struggled in recent seasons, along with the ever-changing landscape in college basketball due to the transfer portal's explosion, direct revenue-sharing and third-party name, image and likeness ("NIL") deals.

"While Gerry's deep connection to Syracuse is meaningful, it's simply a bonus to what he brings as a coach and leader. He honors our past, but he is driven to build for the future," Blair said.

Syracuse University chancellor-elect J. Michael Haynie, who was appointed to this post on March 3, said that GMac's "coaching, recruiting and fundraising prowess, his passion and talent, and his deep belief in what it means to be Orange are exactly what we need."

In the span of three weeks, SU has appointed a new chancellor and a new athletics director, while also bringing on board the next Syracuse men's basketball head coach. Things are progressing nicely on the Hill, and now McNamara will get to work determining his assistant coaching staff (and a general manager) while also constructing the Orange's 2026-27 roster.