Gerry McNamara addresses Syracuse coaching rumors ahead of March Madness

With the NCAA Tournament tipping off on Thursday, Siena head coach Gerry McNamara is trying to shock the world by guiding the No. 16 seed to a seemingly improbable upset of the Duke Blue Devils.

However, he’s also been mentioned repeatedly in ongoing speculation for the Syracuse coaching job, which opened up after the end of the college basketball season. McNamara is one of several coaches linked to the position and has strong ties to the school.

The 42-year-old previously played guard for the Orange from 2002 to 2006, and was part of their 2003 NCAA Championship, which also featured Carmelo Anthony. At the time of all that, Jim Boeheim coached Syracuse, a Big East program, to their championship win. He continued coaching until retiring three years ago.

This past season, the ACC team was coached by another former Syracuse guard, Adrian “Red” Autry. The team fired Autry this month after a 15-17 record and failing to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in his third consecutive season.

Meanwhile, McNamara has coached the Siena Saints for the past two seasons. In just his second season, he coached them to a 23-11 overall record and third place in the MAC. After winning their conference tournament, Siena received an automatic entry into the Big Dance.

“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,” he told reporters.

“They’ve got my full attention. 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,” McNamarra said, per On3.

In addition to McNamarra, other names have been floated as the next head coach at Syracuse. University of South Florida’s Bryan Hodgson was previously linked to the Orange coaching job. However, Syracuse.com reported on Wednesday that he is no longer part of the search, as his team prepares to play No. 6 seed Louisville in a first-round matchup of the NCAA Tournament.

McNamara and Siena face a challenging first-round opponent in Cameron Boozer and a dominant Duke Blue Devils team, coached by Jon Scheyer. As of this writing, the No. 1 overall seed is a 27.5-point favorite to defeat the Saints in their opening game on Thursday afternoon.

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