After missing the NCAA Tournament, the Syracuse men's basketball team decided to turn to Gerry McNamara as their next head coach. He has already gotten to work evaluating what the Orange need to do to get back on track.
One of his first orders of business will be figuring out the roster. In a transfer portal and NIL world, Syracuse is sure to see plenty of changes to their roster. But in terms of who is currently on the team, McNamara wants to know exactly what they're all about on and off the court, via the team's YouTube channel.
“To be honest my process was I came down Tuesday, and instead of meeting with them, I met with the support staff, I met with the academic advisors,” McNamara said. “I wanted to see what they were doing in term of academics. I wanted to know if they were making their meetings, if they were on time for things. I’ve seen the basketball stuff. I can evaluate that on my own. I wanted to know what I’m dealing with from day in and day out.”
“I’ll meet with these guys,” he continued. “I’ve got my finger on the pulse of what's going on. I’ll meet with them individually. I will obviously talk very transparently in terms of my concerns of certain guys.”
With the coaching change, players like Donnie Freeman, Naithan George and Kiyan Anthony must decide if they want to remain at Syracuse. On the flip side, McNamara seems poised to bring in some players from his past job at Siena. Overall, the new head coach will be crafting the Orange in his vision.
What that means will be evident once the 2026-27 roster is finalized. But it's clear McNamara is hitting the ground running as he comes back to Syracuse as head coach.
