Gerry McNamara is back at Syracuse to restore one of college basketball’s proudest programs. But he isn’t pretending the Orange have everything figured out.
I had an exclusive conversation with him at Apex in Destiny USA, and asked a question that goes well beyond the UConn and Siena games.
Is Syracuse positioned to succeed in the modern college sports landscape, with NIL, revenue sharing and the escalating financial demands of major college athletics? Or does the university still have ground to make up?
His answer was revealing.
“Probably ways to go,” McNamara admitted.
It’s a significant acknowledgment from the new Syracuse basketball coach, especially at a time when college athletics is being transformed by money.
But McNamara believes the solution isn’t entirely about spending more money.
It’s also about making Syracuse basketball matter again.
“I think a lot of that is based on what we do,” McNamara told me.
He believes restoring the Orange to the level they enjoyed during the 1990s and 2000s would have benefits extending far beyond the basketball court.
“I don’t think it’s far-fetched to think that if Syracuse basketball gets back to being Syracuse basketball from the ’90s and 2000s and mid-2000s that it wouldn’t help our profile,” he said.
McNamara specifically connected athletic success to enrollment, school identity and the overall student experience.
He pointed out that students have now attended Syracuse for four years without experiencing an NCAA Tournament appearance by the men’s basketball team.
“One of the separating factors of why I would choose Syracuse over XYZ is because, man, I love their sports,” he explained.
And there’s a larger financial argument here.
Successful basketball creates energy around the university. It attracts attention, strengthens the connection with alumni and potentially helps generate the resources necessary to compete in the NIL era.
That doesn’t mean victories alone will solve Syracuse’s financial challenges. But sustained losing certainly makes the job harder.
As we wrote about earlier in the week, it’s an especially important conversation considering where Syracuse football finds itself after another disappointing start.
“The more successful you are bleeds into the culture around the school,” he said. “There’s more energy, draws more eyes.”
But the most revealing part of our conversation may have been his acknowledgment that Syracuse isn’t yet where it needs to be.
“I’d say we have ways to go, but I know we can get there.”
That’s the challenge facing McNamara and Syracuse athletics.
The Orange aren’t simply trying to win more basketball games.
They’re trying to reclaim their place in a college sports economy that isn’t waiting for anyone.
