Syracuse associate head coach Gerry McNamara will take over as head coach at Siena, the school announced Friday morning.

McNamara, who played at Syracuse from 2002-2006, was on SU's coaching staff since the 2011-12 season. He was promoted to associate head coach following Jim Boeheim's retirement after the 2023 season.

McNamara replaces Carmen Maciariello, who was fired after a 4-28 season for the Saints.

This time was the right time for 'GMac.' He's achieved his long sought after head coaching goal, following an amazing two decades plus as an immortal SU player segueing to longtime assistant coach.

Back in 2018 when Siena hired former Big East associate commissioner Tom McElroy to aid in its search for a head coach, McNamara's name was bandied about, before the school hired Jamion Christian who left for George Washington after just one (17-16) campaign.

Now six seasons later, after serving as the associate head coach under his longtime coaching 'brother' Adrian Autry to help build the base of the Orange program's quest to get back to consistent NCAA Tournament play, and with the consideration of timing to move his family (wife and four children) to the Capital Region, McNamara's ready to run his own mid-major program and earn the coveted experience that goes along with rebuilding the once-proud Siena program.

The Saints have struggled at times since Fran McCaffery led the school to three straight March Madness appearances before he departed for Iowa in 2010, leaving four coaches who struggled to win consistently (only five winning seasons) and make the postseason (no NCAA Tournaments), and providing the perfect backdrop for McNamara to take charge.

After sporting a school-worst 4-28 record in Carmen Maciariello's fifth and final campaign, there's no place to go but up leading a Metro Athletic Association program with a devoted fan base and nice home environment at nearby MVP Arena (15,299 capacity). It will be intriguing to see the coaching and support staff McNamara assembles (no doubt with some guidance from Jim Boeheim), how he handles immediate roster management and subsequently the transfer portal, and the spring/summer recruiting cycle.

For Syracuse, Autry now has an associate head coaching spot to fill although he's known this time was coming, and it will most assuredly be his second out-of-program hire in as many years, bringing aboard a coach with both recruiting experience and a fresh take.

One thing's for sure, after watching Gerry McNamara spend his collegiate and virtually his entre professional adult life immersed in the world of Orange basketball, it will be a little jarring seeing him wearing the gold and green of Siena at his official introduction set for next Tuesday in Albany..

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