Sources: Syracuse to hire Gerry McNamara as basketball coach

Syracuse working towards appointment sienaSources told ESPN that Gerry McNamara will be its next head coach, with a deal for the program’s veterans expected to come together in the near future.

McNamara recently coached Siena to the NCAA Tournament, winning the MAAC Conference Tournament and earning the No. 1 overall seed. ruler On the wire on Thursday before falling in the first round. The Saints were the first 16-seed in NCAA Tournament history to lead a 1-seed by double digits at halftime.

After working for 15 years as an assistant on the Syracuse staff under Jim Boeheim and Adrian Autry, McNamara was the head coach at Siena for two seasons.

Syracuse athletic director Brian Blair spoke to McNamara multiple times last week, including both virtually and in person, according to sources.

Syracuse officials stressed a commitment to net zero during the process, sources said, which ranks in the top third of the ACC.

McNamara is one of the greatest players in Syracuse basketball history, helping lead the Orange to a national championship in 2003 and having his No. 3 jersey retired 20 years later. He set program records for 3-pointers and minutes played, earned All-Big East honors three times, and he started all 135 games he played with the Orange.

After a brief professional career, McNamara returned to Syracuse as a graduate assistant in 2009 before being promoted to an assistant coach under Boeheim in 2011. After Boeheim retired in 2023 and Autry was hired as his replacement, McNamara was promoted to associate head coach.

McNamara took the Siena head coaching job in 2024, and went 37–30 in his two seasons with the Saints.

At Syracuse, he replaces Autry, who was fired earlier this month after failing to reach the NCAA Tournament in any of his three seasons in charge of the Orange.

Autry, who was also a four-year Syracuse starter under Boeheim and later his associate head coach, compiled an overall record of 49–48. The Orange went 15–17 this season, including 6–12 in ACC play, finishing with consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1968–69.