Waters says Gerry McNamara was the 'right hire' for Syracuse

The longtime Syracuse.com beat writer for the Orange said that McNamara was the right hire for many reasons.

Mar 4, 2023; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange former player Gerry McNamara speaks to the crowd during a ceremony to retire his number at JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Syracuse officially announced Gerry McNamara as its ninth head basketball coach on Monday, and he appeared to hit all the right notes in his introductory press conference. Longtime Syracuse.com basketball beat writer Mike Waters was on hand and he discusses his impressions of the beginning of the “McNamERA” of Orange basketball on the latest episode of the Juice on the Cuse Podcast, presented by Bleav and On SI.

While there has been a segment of the SU fan base that wanted the Orange to reach outside of the Jim Boeheim coaching tree, Waters found this to be an excellent hire for the Orange.

“It seemed like Syracuse officials did take the time to interview other coaches for the job, but I think they—whether intentionally or accidentally—stumbled onto the right hire. We’ll figure out like whether Gerry's going to be a great coach or not, but what Syracuse really needed in the moment was someone who could galvanize this fan base and bring some excitement back to the program right away.”

Excitement around McNamara's hire

The level of excitement was evident in the turnout for his press conference.

“They set out 500 chairs and they were full 30 minutes before the thing was supposed to begin. They ended up with an estimated crowd of 2,000 people there. It’s pretty amazing and and I think the reason I say they need this is because Syracuse was behind the NIL curve. Gerry McNamara is well aware of the importance of NIL after being a head coach at another school for a while and I think also the fans realize it. For what it’s worth he definitely won that press conference the other day.”

What about the 2026-27 roster?

One of McNamara’s first orders of business will be to assemble the 2026-27 roster. McNamara made it clear in his press conference that there was talent from last year’s roster that he would try to retain. Still, incoming coaches typically only retain between 2-3 players from previous rosters in their first years as head coach of their new programs.

“Kiyan Anthony is probably a high probability because Carmelo Anthony has already come out and endorsed McNamara. And of course the two are connected as freshmen on the 2003 team. But other guys I’m not so sure. I haven’t heard so far that any of them are definitely coming back. We’ve only heard so far for sure that one’s entering the portal and that’s Aaron Womack who was a redshirt freshman. But I think some of the other guys, we’re hearing rumblings that they’re already probably intending on leaving."

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