Syracuse Must Accept it is No Longer Premier Destination in College Basketball

The Orange are no longer associated with the behemoths of the sport

Mar 10, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Syracuse Orange forward Tyler Betsey (5) with the ball in the first half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

While the rest of the country is consumed with the NCAA Tournament, the Syracuse Orange are in the midst of a coaching search that’s already tipping sideways.

After the Orange rightfully dismissed Adrian Autry, rumors started swirling about who could take over the program and a lot the names floated were big and unrealistic.

Finally, candidates started to emerge and the hottest names on the market, Saint Louis’ Josh Schertz and USF’s Bryan Hodgson, reportedly turned down Syracuse. Schertz signed an extension with the Billikens and Hodgson will have the option to either take the opening at Providence or remain with the Bulls on a massive contract extension – and there lies the problem for the Orange.

Syracuse is no longer a destination in college basketball. It’s success when leaving the Big East for the ACC was directly on the shoulders of Jim Boeheim and the absence of NIL and the transfer portal in the sport.

As the world has adapted, the Orange have not and the fact that the most sought-after candidate did not give Syracuse a second thought is alarming.

The Orange have not made an NCAA Tournament since 2020-21 under Boeheim, two years before his retirement. Its last finish in the top four of a conference was in 2013-14 when the Syracuse finished second in the ACC during its inaugural season in the league, which was also the last time the Orange had 12 or more conference victories in a year.

When Syracuse was in a primetime television spot this season, it embarrassed itself trailing by 32 points in the second half on Big Monday against North Carolina and losing to Duke by 37 two weeks later.

Long gone are the days of record crowds in the building once known as the Carrier Dome, must like the interest around the team.

The name that is generating the most buzz around the Orange is Gerry McNamara, who led Sienna to the NCAA Tournament this season. He’s a program legend, playing all four years with Syracuse and having his number retired but it feels like this is a program that must start fresh and get out of the Boeheim shadow.

Before getting the job at Sienna, McNamara was a graduate assistant, assistant, and associate head coach with the Orange under Boeheim and Autry. He’s just 37-29 career as a head coach.

The legacy hire worked for Duke with Jon Scheyer and has seen mixed reviews with Hubert Davis at North Carolina but didn’t work with Autry at Syracuse and showed that the Orange are lightyears behind those programs.

It can be a short fix as long as you have big money donors and a strong head coach, but Syracuse has to stop acting like it’s a blueblood. It’s not. The Orange have to grit and grind to try and get back to the top of college basketball.