Syracuse has hired Gerry McNamara as its new men’s basketball coach, the school announced on Tuesday.
“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,” says McNamara. “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, 42, played four years for the Orange, helping them to the NCAA tournament four times, including a national title in 2003 and a Sweet 16 berth the following season.
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McNamara coached two seasons as Siena’s head coach. The Saints were 14-18 in his first season before going 23-12 and winning the MAAC tournament to get the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament. That earned the Saints a shot at No. 1 Duke, and Siena wasn’t too far from pulling off one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history.
Before taking the head-coaching job at Siena, McNamara had spent the entirety of his college coaching career at Syracuse. He returned to the program in 2009 as a graduate manager, and was an assistant before becoming the team’s associate head coach for the 2023-24 season.
Following longtime head coach Jim Boeheim’s retirement in 2023, Syracuse hired Adrian Autry.
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After going 20-12 in Autry’s first season, the Orange dipped to 14-19 in 2024-25. Syracuse has not made the NCAA tournament since it made the Sweet 16 as a No. 11 seed in 2021 and has not been any higher than a No. 8 seed in the tournament since 2014.
Syracuse went 15-17 in 2025-26 and finished the season on a six-game losing streak. The final four losses were to unranked opponents.
