Siena coach Gerry McNamara: Focus on tournament, not Syracuse

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Siena head coach Gerry McNamara called rumors tying him to the vacant Syracuse job “inevitable,” but insisted his only focus this week is on the Saints’ opening-round matchup against No. 1 Duke in the NCAA tournament.

“My situation with that right now is I’m here at the NCAA tournament for the first time as a head coach, and I get an opportunity to coach Siena University, and the kids in that locker room deserve that opportunity,” McNamara said Wednesday. “That’s where my focus is. These kids have given me everything they’ve got every day this season, and they deserve my full attention, and they’ve got it.”

McNamara, a Syracuse alum and member of the 2003 national championship team, spent 15 years working as an assistant coach with the Orange before landing the Siena job last year. He has led the Saints to a 23-11 record this season, including winning the MAAC tournament championship.

That success at Siena, along with his close ties to Syracuse’s program, put McNamara’s name on the short list of logical candidates to replace Adrian Autry, who was fired after a second straight losing season.

“The reality is because of [Siena’s success], my name is coming up,” McNamara said. “That’s the way I look at this. You get good players, you coach them right, you win, everybody gets recognition. I think the situation with the job opening and what we’ve done in the last week, there was obviously going to be some speculation.”

Syracuse has not been to the NCAA tournament since 2021 — a steep fall from the program’s heyday with McNamara running point for Carmelo Anthony, Hakim Warrick & Co. in the 2000s. McNamara was a four-year starter, leading the Orange to four straight tournament appearances.

He followed his playing career with more than a decade at the side of his former coach, Jim Boeheim — first as a graduate assistant and, ultimately, as assistant head coach.

McNamara said the lessons learned from Boeheim will inform his approach to Thursday’s game against Duke, as Siena looks to become the third No. 16 seed to knock off a No. 1 seed in tournament history.

“When I was at Syracuse with Coach Boeheim, we always prepared the same way,” McNamara said.

“I’ve talked about what’s the biggest thing I’ve taken from him all these years is how consistent every day was. There was a lot of the same things every day, repetitive, over and over and over. That’s what I’ve done quite a bit. Now, in a different way, I do it in my own way, but very, very normal this week to prepare them just like we did for [MAAC tournament].”

Of note: McNamara confirmed, the Saints will have to do without Antonio Chandler, who was ruled ineligible by the NCAA over an “institutional mistake” by the school.