Rapid Reaction: The next Syracuse assistant may come outside the SU family
It’s certainly been an incredible first week for head coach Adrian Autry and the Syracuse basketball program since he was officially named the post a week ago today following Syracuse's loss in the ACC Tournament.
Step No. 1 was getting JJ Starling from the transfer portal to come back home as a Baldwinsville native. He was the top-ranked player in the transfer portal that opened up this past Monday.
After Gerry McNamara‘s jersey was retired in the final regular season game, there was plenty of speculation as to whether or not he would entertain offers to become head coach after a serving Syracuse as an assistant since 2011.
It was a great move to retain McNamara and give them a new title of associate head coach to maintain the continuity on the staff.
That was followed up with the announcement that Allen Griffin will also remain on staff as the No. 2 assistant coach on the bench. Both have done a terrific job in both in recruiting and developing players.
The hunt is on for the third assistant coach and it’s going to be interesting.
It’s easy to think SU wants to keep that position in the Syracuse family. Names like Ryan Blackwell, Eric Devendorf, Kris Joseph, Demetris Nichols, Jason Hart and even a celebrity name like Derrick Coleman have come up.
But in reality, I believe Griffin looks outside the Syracuse family for his third assistant coach.
I believe the top requirement for this position is somebody that has experience in recruiting, and that means someone with great connections with high schools and AAU coaches. While those former Syracuse names I just mentioned would know the SU program well, none of those names particularly fits that recruiting mandate.
Jim Boeheim went outside of his coaching tree in prior years. Of course, he famously brought in Troy Weaver, and his recruitment of Carmelo Anthony helped to lead to a national championship in 2003.
Later, Boeheim tapped Rob Murphy, who gained great experience on Boeheim's staff before he became head coach of the Eastern Michigan.
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