Nine Candidates to Take Over for Adrian Autry at Syracuse After Orange Coach’s Dismissal

Syracuse is set to make its first external men’s basketball hire in generations. Here are some names to know.

South Florida coach Bryan Hodgson, a native of Olean, N.Y., has been linked to the Syracuse job. | Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

The Syracuse men’s basketball program has a penchant for keeping it in the family. When the program’s most legendary figure roamed the sideline for 47 years—after seven years as an assistant and four as one of the team’s star guards—it is easy to see how things could become a bit insular. 

During Jim Boeheim’s last Final Four run with the Orange in 2016, his staff consisted of three of his former players: Mike Hopkins, Adrian Autry and Gerry McNamara. When Boeheim stepped aside following the disappointing 2022–23 campaign, Hopkins, the longtime head coach-in-waiting, had departed for Washington. Rather than go outside the program, athletic director John Wildhack (another Syracuse alumnus) promoted Autry to the job—his first as a head coach. Three years, two losing seasons and zero NCAA tournament appearances later, the Orange have moved on from the former All-Big East point guard.

When Fred Lewis left Syracuse basketball to become the athletic director at Sacramento State in 1968, the program promoted assistant Roy Danforth. When Danforth left for Tulane in 1976, Boeheim, then an Orange assistant, famously used leverage from an interview with the University of Rochester to land the head job at his alma mater, one that he made one of the best in the country. And when he stepped down nearly 50 years later, Autry was promoted without a national search.

Now, Syracuse has vowed to conduct that national search for a coach that will rehab a program with a national championship, six Final Fours and the seventh-most wins in college basketball history.

Where may the school—which just named a new chancellor and is in the process of hiring a replacement for the retiring Wildhack—look? Here are nine options for the ACC job.

Bryan Hodgson — South Florida

One of the hottest coaching names in the country, Hodgson is an Upstate New York native—not a requirement by any means, but something that could attract him to the Syracuse job, and ensure that he isn’t scared away by the Central New York winters, even though he currently plies his trade in Tampa. In three years as head coach, Hodgson has a record of 68–36. He led Arkansas State to a Sun Belt regular season title and berths in the CBI and NIT in his two years in Jonesboro; this season, his first with USF, he’s 23–8 and captured the American regular season crown with a 15–3 conference record. The No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, the Bulls will play their first game in the semifinals on Saturday. Even without an automatic bid, USF may be in the mix for an at-large.

A native of Olean, N.Y. and alum of SUNY Fredonia, Hodgson comes from the Nate Oats tree, coaching under him at both Buffalo and Alabama, and brings serious recruiting chops and a fiery demeanor—something that could play well in Syracuse following the relatively laid back Autry.

Josh Schertz — Saint Louis

The Midwest is replete with impressive midmajor coaches, Schertz chief among them this season. A Brooklyn-born, Long Island-raised coach, Schertz has come up through the small school ranks, spending his first 13 seasons leading Division II Lincoln Memorial University, where he led the Railsplitters to three Final Fours. He jumped up to D-I at Indiana State, leading the program to a 32-win season and a trip to the NIT final in 2024. Now, in his second season with the Billikens, he is set to make his March Madness debut with an aggressive, deep offensive team that has seven players averaging at least nine points per game. He’ll have no shortage of options this offseason, but could also opt to stay put given the success he’s had at Saint Louis this season.

Gerry McNamara — Siena

Already a Syracuse legend, McNamara was a member of the freshman class, alongside Carmelo Anthony, that led the Orange to the 2003 national title. His 2006 Big East tournament run is one of the most fabled in conference tournament history. McNamara returned to his alma mater in 2009 as a graduate assistant, and became a full-time assistant coach in 2011, spending one year on the bench with Autry after Boeheim’s retirement before taking over his own program at Siena. The Saints were a true rebuild, going just 4–28 and finishing at the bottom of the MAAC the year before G-Mac arrived. In year two of his tenure, they’re 23–11 and are going dancing after winning the conference tournament on Tuesday night.

The same close ties to the program that have McNamara on this list may strangely be his biggest obstacle as well. McNamara coached on those late-career Boeheim teams that began Syracuse’s slide, and was Autry’s lead assistant in his first year (albeit, the best year that the Orange had under the now-fired coach). During a Wednesday afternoon radio appearance, McNamara was asked about the Autry news. “I’m devastated by it,” he said, per Times Union Siena reporter Mark Singelais. “I love him. He’s one of my best friends in the world.”

It would be no surprise to see McNamara leading the program someday, but 2026 may be a bit too soon.

Luke Murray — UConn assistant 

When Boeheim and Jim Calhoun roamed the sidelines in Syracuse and Storrs, Conn., the Orange and Huskies were largely peer programs and fierce Big East rivals. UConn has clearly separated itself, with the national title won by Kevin Ollie and the two recent championships by Dan Hurley, who has cemented the Huskies as the nation’s top program. Murray, one of Hurley’s top assistants, is credited with developing UConn’s offense. A former assistant to Chris Mack and Xavier and Louisville, he has strong Northeastern roots and experience in the ACC. It may sting a bit for Syracuse to hire a Connecticut coach, but the success that Murray has had in Storrs speaks for itself.

Mike Hopkins — New Orleans Pelicans assistant

Mike Hopkins and Gerry McNamara both played and coached under Jim Boeheim and could be in the mix to replace the now-fired Adrian Autry. | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

Once upon a time, this job was Hopkins’s to have. Dating back to 2007, Hopkins had been considered Syracuse’s head coach-in-waiting, set to replace Boeheim upon his retirement. The status was formalized in 2015, with the understanding that Boeheim would step down after the 2017–18 season. 

That didn’t happen. 

Instead, Hopkins took the job at Washington in 2017, returning the California native to the West Coast after nearly three decades in Central New York as a player and assistant coach. It did not go well; after leading the Huskies to the NIT in his first season, he posted an impressive 27–9 mark in 2018–19. Washington, a nine-seed in the NCAA tournament that year, beat Utah State to open play before being crushed by North Carolina in the round of 32. He never returned to the Big Dance, going just 70–84 across his final five seasons including a dreadful 5–21 record in 2020–21. It is probably unfair to hold a 4–5 stint as Syracuse interim coach in 2015–16, filling in for a suspended Boeheim, against him, but it raised some early concerns among the Orange faithful when he was still considered the heir apparent for the job.

Hopkins was an ace recruiter at Syracuse and brought in talent at Washington, but bringing him back after a failed stint at UW and multiple years out of the college game might be a tough sell.

Shaheen Holloway — Seton Hall

Holloway became a household name in 2022, when he led tiny Saint Peter’s to the Elite Eight, becoming the first No. 15 seed to go that far in the NCAA tournament in the process. He parlayed that Cinderella run into the job at his alma mater, Seton Hall, where he’s had some success but has not yet reached the Big Dance. The Pirates won the NIT in 2024, currently his high-water mark at the school. Holloway may be doing his best work this season, however. At 20–11, Seton Hall enters the Big East tournament as the No. 4 seed after being picked to finish at the bottom of the league in the preseason. 

Would Holloway leave his alma mater to take over one of the Northeast’s premier programs? Time will tell.

Joe Gallo — Merrimack

A consummate program-builder who could be on the radar for a few programs over the next few weeks, Gallo has impressed at Merrimack, a young Division I program that he elevated from D-II at the start of the decade. Gallo won the NEC regular season in three of his first five seasons coaching the Warriors in D-I, and took home the conference tournament in 2023, but was ineligible for the NCAA tournament as the program finished its transition up to D-I. This year’s team lost to Siena in the MAAC title after winning the regular season conference title. He could be under consideration for another ACC job, with Boston College opening last week, but his résumé is impressive enough to warrant a look by Syracuse as well.

Tony Skinn — George Mason

A member of George Mason’s legendary 2006 Cinderella team, Skinn now leads the program at his alma mater, going 70–29 across three seasons as head coach after accruing high-major assistant experience at Seton Hall, Ohio State and Maryland. The Patriots have stumbled down the stretch this season, losing six of their final nine games ahead of the Atlantic 10 tournament, but still have a chance to make a run as the league’s No. 5 seed. George Mason has a history of elevating coaches; Rick Barnes, Kim English and, of course, Jim Larrañaga are among the Patriots coaches to move up to high-major jobs after successful runs in Fairfax, Va.

John Groce — Akron

The MAC, once known for developing great college football coaches, is now filled with impressive head men on the basketball side. Groce is among the more experienced coaches in the league, with a 374–224 record dating back to his first top job in the MAC, leading Ohio from 2008 to ‘12. He parlayed a Sweet 16 run with the Bobcats to the job at Illinois, where he went 95–75 in five years but never quite got over the hump. He’s been one of the best mid-major coaches in the country at Akron, winning the MAC regular season twice and tournament three times. The Zips have played second fiddle to undefeated Miami (Ohio) this season, but some—like Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde—like Akron to knock off the RedHawks during the conference tournament. Groce is becoming an institution with the Zips, but he’s done enough to parlay this run into another high-major opportunity.

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