Syracuse head coach Gerry McNamara announces three staff additions

McNamara named Ben Lee, Arinze Onuaku and Ryan Daly as assistant coaches on Monday.

Mar 19, 2026; Greenville, SC, USA; Siena Saints head coach Gerry McNamara reacts against the Duke Blue Devils in the first 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

Syracuse officially announced the hiring of three assistant coaches on Monday morning.

According to a release from the University, head coach Gerry McNamara has hired over two of his assistant coaches from Siena—Arinze Onuaku and Ben Lee—and Ryan Daly from VCU.

The Daly File

Daly served as an assistant coach under Phil Martelli Jr. The Rams made the NCAA Tournament in 2026, and were 28-8 overall and captured the Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship. Prior to VCU, he served with Martelli at Bryant where the team went 23-12 in the 2025 season.

He’s also coached at Albany.

Daly played at Delaware and St. Joseph’s in college. At Delaware, he was Third Team All-CAA in two seasons, and was also the 2016-17 CAA Rookie of the Year. He left for St. Joseph’s, and in his junior year, he led the A10 in scoring (20.6 ppg) and was named Third-Team All-Conference again. 

The Lee File

Lee was an assistant under McNamara for both years he was head coach at Siena. He was a critical part of the turnaround after McNamara’s coaching staff inherited a team that won just four games int he 2023-24 season.

The Saints won 14 games in the 2024-25 season before going 23-12 in the 2026 campaign, highlighted by a MAAC Tournament Title and an NCAA Tournament berth. Siena led top-seeded Duke into the second half as a 16-seed before ultimately bowing out to the Blue Devils.

Prior to Siena, Lee held various roles at Washington, including graduate assistant coach, director of operations and assistant coach/director of recruiting.

Lee played at Union College where he was part of two teams that earned NCAA Division III Tournament berths.

The Onuaku File

Onuaku is a member of one of the most successful runs in Syracuse basketball history. He played 134 games at Syracuse and scored 1,232 points and grabbed 804 rebounds. He remains Syracuse’s all-time career leader in field goal percentage at 64.8 percent.

Following his SU career, he played professionally in the United States and abroad, including 19 games in the NBA across three seasons with New Orleans, Cleveland, Minnesota and Orlando. He also had several overseas stints in Lithuania (2011), China (2014, 2017, 2018), Israel (2015-16), Philippines (2016, 2018) and Bahrain (2019). 

Onuaku was an assistant on McNamara’s staff during his two years at Siena. He also has been a coach in the G-League and at various high schools in the DMV area.

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