Gerry McNamara has signed a deal to take over as the lads’s basketball coach at Siena, deciding to depart Syracuse after 20 years as a standout participant and assistant earlier than finally ascending to affiliate head coach for the Orange.
McNamara’s signing was introduced by Siena on Friday and makes him a collegiate head coach for the primary time. He replaces Siena alum Carmen Maciariello, who was fired after going 68-72 in 5 seasons on the college, together with a 4-28 mark this season.
McNamara has been on the Syracuse workers since 2009, first as a graduate assistant after which greater than a decade as an assistant beneath Jim Boeheim. Final season he turned affiliate head coach for the Orange when Adrian Autry took over as head coach.
The 40-year-old McNamara stays the fourth-leading scorer in Syracuse historical past behind solely Laurence Moten, Derrick Coleman and John Wallace. He began on Syracuse’s 2003 nationwide championship crew that was led by Carmelo Anthony; McNamara had 18 factors, all on 3-pointers, within the Orange’s 81-78 win over Kansas within the NCAA title sport.
“I’m so honored and excited to steer Siena School as the brand new head males’s basketball coach,” McNamara mentioned in an announcement. “My household and I am unable to wait to get began and embrace Siena and the Capital Area.”
McNamara began all 135 video games of his enjoying profession at Syracuse and stays the college’s all-time chief in 3-pointers made by a large margin. His whole of 400 stands properly forward of Buddy Boeheim (309) and Joseph Girard III (297). McNamara additionally tops Syracuse’s all-time lists without cost throw share (.888) and minutes performed (4,799).
He performed in what’s now known as the NBA G League and in Europe earlier than returning to Syracuse to teach.
Siena, a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Convention, performs its dwelling video games in Albany, about 150 miles east of Syracuse.
The tiny college has served as a springboard for coaches many occasions through the years: Fran McCaffery made three straight NCAA event runs on the college and has been at Iowa for 14 seasons since leaving Siena; Paul Hewitt received his first Division I job at Siena and left after three seasons to take Georgia Tech to the nationwide championship sport; Mike Deane was an establishment at Siena earlier than leaving for Marquette; new Rice coach Rob Lanier is a former Siena coach as properly.
The college has even used the Syracuse-to-Siena path earlier than. Former Orange participant and assistant Louis Orr spent one season as Siena coach in 2000-01, successful a share of the MAAC regular-season title earlier than departing for Seton Corridor.
“Gerry’s illustrious profession and championship pedigree at Syracuse College, paired together with his distinctive abilities in mentoring younger expertise, align completely with the excessive expectations and storied custom of Siena basketball,” Siena president Chuck Siefert mentioned in an announcement. “His appointment isn’t just about restoring championship success — a regular our followers rightly anticipate — but it surely additionally symbolizes Siena’s ascent within the broader collegiate panorama.”
McNamara’s strengths embody recruiting, and that will likely be wanted to show issues round at Siena. Among the many 351 groups with full-fledged Division I membership this season, solely DePaul (3-29), Coppin State (2-27), Mississippi Valley State (1-30) and Detroit Mercy (1-31) had worse data than the Saints.