Syracuse, N.Y. — Gerry McNamara has emerged as a top target for Siena College’s new men’s basketball head coach, according to sources and a report by the Albany Times-Union.
The former Syracuse basketball star and current Orange associate head coach could replace Carmen Maciariello, who was fired after the Saints went 4-28 this season. Siena was 68-72 during Maciariello’s tenure, but this season’s record was the worst in program history.
McNamara was in Albany on Sunday, sources said, to talk with Siena athletic director John D’Argenio and with the school’s president about the job. McNamara had been among the first coaches rumored to be involved with Siena when the position opened last Wednesday.
McNamara, who turned 40 last August, has long desired to be a head college basketball coach. He was promoted to associate head coach last spring, when Adrian Autry was named Syracuse’s head coach following the retirement of Jim Boeheim.
McNamara initially came to Syracuse as a graduate assistant, but Boeheim hired him as a full-time assistant in 2011-12. He has worked over the years primarily with Syracuse’s guard groups.
Siena competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, where Quinnipiac, Fairfield and St. Peter’s have catapulted to recent success in that league. Rick Pitino, too, turned Iona into a MAAC champion before departing for St. John’s.
Aside from this season, when injuries and transfer portal defections the past couple years decimated the Saints’ lineup, Siena has been competitive in the MAAC. The Saints finished fourth in 2023, third in 2022 and first in 2021.
Basketball observers believe Siena is positioned to be a player in that league. McNamara, who grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and has spent the entirety of his coaching career at Syracuse, knows the area well and has broadly recruited the Northeast and beyond.
Maciariello, 45, had two years left on his contract when he was fired, the Albany Times-Union reported. He was paid $362,450 in 2021-22 with an additional $59,000 listed as “other” according to Propublica.org’s most recent contract information available for the former Siena coach.
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