Syracuse men's basketball coaching candidates: The longshots

The search to replace Adrian Autry figures to be extensive. I've already listed out seven coaches that could be on Syracuse's list. Most of the candidates listed feel like pretty realistic options so far. What if 'Cuse were to swing for the fences?

Dennis Gates, Missouri head coach
Not the highest profile candidate, Gates would quietly be a quality hire for the Orange. Gates is in his fourth season at Missouri, and his results have been impressive in the shockingly deep SEC. Outside of a nightmare 2023-24 campaign in which the Tigers went 0-18 in conference play, he has led them to two NCAA tournament appearances and should be in line for a third this year.

While Gates does not have any real pull to the Northeast, the Chicago native has worked in the ACC before. Before taking the head coaching job at Cleveland State, he spent eight seasons as an assistant at Florida State. Missouri knocked off Kansas, Florida and Alabama last year. This year, they have taken down Florida, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. I can’t say for sure that Gates would be interested in the job, but if he is, this would be an excellent hire.

Andy Enfield, SMU head coach
This would be an interesting one. Enfield has held his own in his first two seasons coaching the ACC. He has experience as an NBA assistant and as an assistant on Leonard Hamilton’s staff at Florida State. He then burst onto the scene when he led Florida Gulf Coast to the Elite Eight in the 2013 NCAA tournament. Enfield took the job at USC, where he spent 11 seasons. It wasn’t always pretty, but the Trojans reached the tournament five out of a possible 10 years.

Prying Enfield away from the deep pockets in Dallas will be difficult. However, he left USC after 11 seasons, so I get the impression he is looking for the right job for himself. Enfield is a Pennsylvania native who went to school at Johns Hopkins. A chance to return to the East Coast could be appealing to him. He has the Mustangs on the verge of an NCAA tournament bid after competing in the NIT a year ago.

Jay Wright, former Villanova head coach
Let’s get wild! Wright walked away from coaching after two national titles and a dominant run in the Big East. He had a cushy job as an analyst for CBS and TNT for a few years, but is now working as a special assistant to the president at Villanova. Could a return to New York and a chance to revive a historic program in Syracuse be enough to lure him out of his retirement?

Wright is still just 64 years old. He went to Bucknell and got his first head coaching job at Hofstra. There are tons of New York State ties and a legendary resume. It would cost Syracuse a lot of money, and the university would have to commit significantly more NIL money to convince him that the job would be worth taking. File this one under pipe dream.

Rick Pitino, St. John’s head coach
50 years ago, Jim Boeheim hired a young Hawaii assistant named Rick Pitino to join his staff. He only spent two seasons in Central New York before taking the job at Boston University, but this would be a full-circle moment.

Pitino has a checkered history, involving several NCAA scandals, including him being fired for cause at Louisville. But few other coaches can match his resume. He has two national titles and seven Final Fours. At 73, it seems highly unlikely that Pitino would be willing to take on a new challenge, especially given that he is bringing St. John’s back to national relevance, but if the university wants to make a splash, it would be hard to go bigger than this.