Former Syracuse teammate of Gerry McNamara ‘super excited’ for his return

Gerry McNamara is reportedly coming back to Syracuse as its next head coach after two seasons of leading Siena.

Mar 19, 2026; Greenville, SC, USA; Siena Saints head coach Gerry McNamara reacts against the Duke Blue Devils in the second half during a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

On Sunday, reports surfaced that former Syracuse guard and assistant coach Gerry McNamara would be named the ninth head coach with the Orange. The news comes on the heels of McNamara nearly leading his 16th-seeded Siena team to an upset of top-seeded Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The news has come as a welcome sign for many former Syracuse basketball players, and count ex-guard Andrew Kouwe among the group. Kouwe, who played at Syracuse from 2000-2004 and was a teammate of McNamara's on the 2003 National Championship team, sounded off on the McNamara hire on The Juice on the Cuse Podcast, presented by Bleav and On SI.

"I'm obviously super excited," Kouwe said. "I’m biased as a teammate of his. He had a great two seasons with Siena and an exceptional season this year. And then you see the coaching masterpiece he did with Duke and the way the team played and executed his game plan. The stars aligned and (the SU administration) went forward with what it seemed like to be the perfect pick."

Kouwe dismisses concerns SU's hire wasn't outside the family

The pick of McNamara was met with a mixed response from the Syracuse fan base. While McNamara is a fan favorite and was a long-serving coach under Jim Boeheim, some wanted the Orange to move away from the Boeheim coaching tree, especially in light of the struggles SU had with another alum, Adrian Autry. But Kouwe dismissed the concerns.

"We’ve only had one coach post-Boeheim that’s part of the family. It's not like we went to five different coaches that were all part of the family, or that we were only looking at coaches that were part of the family. I think we’re all super excited and hopeful that this is the right move."

Kouwe on his text message group with McNamara

Kouwe still speaks to many of his former teammates, and many of them are on a text message chain that also includes McNamara. Because the news is not official, the thread has been somewhat subdued.

"Gerry can't respond in that kind of text chain yet because anything can still happen. There could always be something last-minute that happens. So there has been some conversation, some congratulations, but at the end of the day, considering it's not coming from Syracuse yet as official, there's still a little bit of quietness, I would say."

SUPPORT THE JUICE ONLINE

You can find our podcast, The Juice on the Cuse, a Syracuse Orange podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever else you may listen!