Syracuse made a coaching change this offseason by firing Adrian Autry. The Orange replaced Autry with former Syracuse player Gerry McNamara after the job he has done at Siena. In response to his firing, Virginia basketball head coach Ryan Odom hired Autry to his staff. Autry brings a lot of experience and fills a spot left open after Pepperdine hired away Griff Aldrich.
The official Virginia basketball social media account announced the news. Autry comes in to replace a vacancy that Griff Aldrich left after he left to become the head coach of Pepperdine University. There is no official title for associate head coach yet, but Autry will likely fill that role given his experience.
Autry was fired as the head coach of Syracuse after just his third season. He went 49-48 during his time there, and according to his predecessor, Jim Boeheim, his firing was due to his star players having down years and wasn’t a reflection of the type of coach Autry is. “I think he got in a situation where his best players just didn’t play the way they needed to play, and it cost him his job.”
Before he was promoted to the position of head coach, he served as an associate head coach and assistant coach on Jim Boeheim’s staff for a total of 12 seasons. In that time, the Orange had a lot of success, making the NCAA tournament seven times and reaching the Final Four two times.
The hire by Odom also represents a reunion for Odom and Autry because they both worked under Seth Greenberg on his staff at Virginia Tech from 2008 to 2010.
Odom also spoke to Autry’s integrity, experience, commitment to developing players, and knowledge.
“We are thrilled to add Adrian Autry to our coaching staff at Virginia,” Odom said. “His integrity, extensive experience, commitment to player development, and knowledge of the game make him an invaluable addition to our program. I am confident he will help us continue our pursuit of excellence at Virginia. We look forward to welcoming Adrian, his wife, Andrea, and their family to Charlottesville.”
