Syracuse basketball staff growing with the hiring of an assistant coach from Siena

In an another important step to building out his first staff, Kevin Sweeney of si.com reported Sunday what had been speculated since McNamara was named the Orange head coach, that he would bring the 29-year old Lee along with him from Loudonville.

Lee spent two seasons with G-Mac after working his second stint in Seattle alongside another former SU player-turned head coach, Mike Hopkins at Washington, between 2022-24. Lee also served as a grad asisstant under Hopkins at UW in 2019-20.

Building a staff Jim Boeheim would be proud of 50 seasons later

This month marks the 50th anniversary of Boeheim being hired as head coach (April 3, 1976) by Syracuse, on the same day he told the university (specifically vice chancellor Cliff Winters and AD Les Dye) he was prepared to take the head coaching job at the University of Rochester if they did not name him the successor to Roy Danforth.

Boeheim signed an initial three-year contract at some $25,000 a season (obviously laughable today), and immediately hired another future Hall of Fame coach named Rick Pitino (on his honeymoon in New York City at the time) as his lead assistant.

Pitino, former Syracuse team manager Bernie Fine, and one-time SU reserve forward Mark Meadows formed the trio of Boeheim's first staff, the season highlighted by a first-round NCAA Tournament OT upset of Tennessee. Pitino stayed two seasons, before taking his first full-time head coaching job at Boston University in 1978.

McNamara has now reached out to his own initial trio of coaches in Lee, and as previously reported both Ryan Daly from VCU and Jamal Brunt from Penn State, to form a staff that combines rising coaches with great pedigrees (Lee and Daly), along with a coach (Brunt) who has been in the first seat next to the head coach (Mike Rhodes) at two programs (VCU/Penn State).

Patience please, "familiar names" still to come

McNamara has pledged since his hiring was announced that his first staff will feature "familiar names" combined with unfamiliar one's, coaches coming into the program from outside the Syracuse family.

As of Sunday, the "familiar names" have not been announced formally, although Orange fans know that Ryan Blackwell, Arinze Onuaku and operations director Ryan Beaury worked with G-Mac with the Saints (along with Beaury's uncle Brian a longtime Div. II head coach).

There is also currently one holdover from Adrian Autry's staff who has been holding down the fort at the Melo Center since the coaching change. Director of operations Peter Corasaniti is obviously a known name to McNamara and 'Cuse fans from their time working together, and all four could end up as part of the new staff as the transfer portal activity heats up the rest of the month.

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