Syracuse Dismisses Adrian Autry After Three Seasons, Back-to-Back Losing Campaigns

Jim Boeheim’s 47-year tenure as Syracuse men’s basketball coach came to an end on March 8, 2023, after the Orange lost their ACC tournament opener to Wake Forest. Three years and three days after the Hall of Famer’s retirement from coaching, his former star guard, assistant and successor as head coach, Adrian Autry, has been relieved of his duties, the school has confirmed. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported the news early Wednesday morning.

Outgoing Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack made the decision to fire Autry, but the next men’s basketball coach hire will be made by Wildhack’s replacement, who has not yet been hired, per Thamel.

“Adrian first came to Syracuse as a student-athlete in 1990, and this program has been a constant in his life ever since: as a player, assistant coach, associate head coach and ultimately as head coach,” Wildhack said in a statement, via Brent Axe of The Post-Standard. "His dedication to our student-athletes on and off the court never wavered throughout his time here, and we are grateful for his service and commitment to Orange Basketball.

“We are going to move quickly and with purpose,” he continued. “This is one of the most storied programs in college basketball, and we intend to hire a proven winner who will build on that legacy. We are looking for a coach who can recruit at the highest level, develop players and compete for championships, conference and national. Syracuse fans deserve nothing less, and that is exactly
what we are going to deliver.”

Autry called it “an honor to coach at my alma mater” in the school’s statement.

Autry’s run as Orange coach came to a close after a 86–69 loss to SMU in the opening round of the ACC tournament in Charlotte on Tuesday, a loss which dropped his record on the year to 15–17 (6–12 in regular season ACC play). Despite a promising roster overhaul from the previous year’s 14–19 squad, and the retention of that team’s two best players in guard J.J. Starling and forward Donnie Freeman, the team managed to improve by a single regular season win but won one fewer game in conference play. Boeheim had just one losing season in 47 years (the 16–17 team in 2021–22). The program had not experienced consecutive losing seasons since 1969.

Autry leaves Syracuse with a record of 49–48 and 24–34 in ACC play. After tying for fifth in the conference in his first season, the Orange finished in 14th in each of the last two seasons. Autry went just 1–3 in ACC tournament games and never brought the team to the NCAA tournament. The program last reached the Big Dance in 2021.

The 2025–26 season got off to a promising start in nonconference play, even in early season losses, as Syracuse took Big 12 power Houston to overtime in the Players Era Festival, falling 78–74. The Orange were similarly competitive against Kansas before getting blown out by Iowa State, but rebounded to beat then-No. 13 Tennessee at home in the ACC-SEC Challenge.

Syracuse could not take that momentum into ACC play, going 6–7 to open the conference season before dropping its final six games of the year including Tuesday’s defeat to the Mustangs.

Autry’s tenure got off to a promising start in 2023–24. Boeheim, who was the model of consistency for much of his nearly five decades in charge, saw his success dwindle over the last few years of his run, buoyed by a stunning Final Four run in 2016 and trips to the Sweet 16 as No. 11 seeds in ‘18 and ‘21. The Orange, which hadn’t failed to win 20 games between 1996–97 and 2013–14, did so six times in his last nine seasons, including his final four years. In Autry’s first season, Syracuse went 20–11 and 11–9 in ACC play, picking up wins against rival Georgetown and eventual Pac-12 champion Oregon and taking down No. 7 North Carolina, the first of two total wins against Top 25 programs in his tenure. A first-round ACC tournament loss to NC State eliminated the Orange from March Madness contention.

Syracuse enters uncharted territory after firing Adrian Autry

With Autry’s dismissal, Syracuse basketball enters a situation that the vast majority of those around Orange basketball have never encountered: a true job search. Autry, a former All-Big East point guard and Syracuse’s leader in assists in each of his four years playing for Boeheim (1990 to ‘94), was the top assistant on Boeheim’s staff and elevated to the top job upon Boeheim’s retirement. Boeheim himself was elevated from assistant on Roy Danforth’s staff to head coach after Danforth’s departure for Tulane in 1976. Danforth himself was promoted from assistant coach on Fred Lewis’s staff in 1968, when Lewis became the athletic director at Sacramento State. Lewis, who was hired from Southern Mississippi in ‘62, remains the last men’s basketball coach hired from outside of the program.

While some familiar faces may ultimately be involved as Syracuse opens its search, the school is set to make its first hire from outside of the program in 64 years.

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