Gerry McNamara's coaching clinic against Duke elevates his Syracuse status

For about 35 minutes on Thursday, Siena outplayed the No. 1 team in the country. Everyone in America was staring down the possibility of their bracket being fully busted just hours after March Madness officially tipped off. While Duke eventually outlasted Siena 71-65, it was an impressive showing from the MAAC champions. The architect behind the latest 16-seed punching way above their weight: Gerry McNamara.

"GMac. He out-coached me."

The former Syracuse point guard had an excellent game plan to combat Duke’s massive edge in talent. Running a familiar-looking zone took the Blue Devils out of their rhythm for most of the contest. In the end, Siena held Duke 11 points below its season average and shut them down from beyond the arc. After the game, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer admitted McNamara had outcoached him. "GMac. He out-coached me. They were more ready to play."

What’s even more impressive is that McNamara essentially only had five players available to him. All five of his starters logged 40 minutes. Siena only had 7 scholarship players on its roster. The two that didn’t start are freshmen who have struggled in limited playing time. While some have criticized McNamara for not subbing more as his team looked fatigued in the closing minutes, I think it makes the Saints’ showing even more impressive.

At this point, I’m not sure there's anything more McNamara could have done to prove he is ready to coach at the Power 5 level. He turned Siena around just two years into the job. Prior to his arrival, the Saints went 4-28. McNamara led them to a conference tournament title and their first NCAA tournament appearance in 16 years.

He also nearly delivered what would have been the biggest upset in tournament history. Siena was a 28.5-point underdog. For context, UMBC was a 20.5-point underdog in their 2018 upset of Virginia. Purdue was a 23.5-point favorite against Fairleigh Dickinson in 2023.

Syracuse lost its most recent matchup with Duke by 37 points. That was with an unquestionably more talented roster than what McNamara had available to him. Some of that can be chalked up to player performance, but it is clear that McNamara knows how to craft a game plan to challenge the best teams in the country.

Will McNamara pick Syracuse?

Heading into the week, there was concern among fans about the jump in competition if McNamara were hired. The ACC is unquestionably more challenging than the MAAC, and McNamara only has two years of head coaching experience. He assuaged those concerns and then some on Thursday.

Suddenly, the conversation seems to have shifted from whether Syracuse should take a chance on their former star and assistant coach to whether McNamara would be willing to take the job. Bryan Hodgson reportedly turned down the Orange earlier this week because they were not able to promise enough NIL funding to build the roster. New Syracuse athletic director Bryan Blair refuted that reporting on Friday.

Regardless of what really happened with Hodgson, given what McNamara just showed, there is no reason he should settle for a subpar offer from ‘Cuse. He is bound to have his fair share of suitors. Syracuse would be wise to do what it takes to bring one of the program's biggest stars back to the Dome.

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