After a 15-17 season that saw them get bounced in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament on Tuesday, Syracuse University fired head men's basketball coach Adrian Autry on Wednesday morning.

In total, Autry spent three years in Central New York as head coach, going 49-48 and never making the NCAA Tournament. We've already heard six names connected to the job opening, including former guard Gerry McNamara, who is currently the head coach at Siena University in Albany.

And while McNamara has thus far played it close to the vest with regards to his potential interest in the job, he does have an extraordinary amount of leverage.

Let's dive in.

Speaking on the ACC Network on Wednesday, former SU head coach Jim Boeheim said that McNamara already has interest from Georgia Tech and Boston College, who both fired their coaches earlier this week.

Interest in him will only grow, especially as athletic departments watch his Siena team play in the NCAA Tournament next week, so McNamara has the leverage to basically ask for what he wants at Syracuse.

If they don't give it to him? They could be watching him beat them in the same conference for years.

McNamara has only been a head coach at Siena for two years and it's true that some people may want someone with some more seasoning to come in and resurrect the program. In a perfect world, maybe McNamara would go take a mid-level job and be ready for SU the next time around, but you know what? This isn't a perfect world.

With McNamara already getting Power Four conference offers? Syracuse may never get another chance at him. He knows that. They should know that too.

Syracuse didn't just fire Autry this week, they also fired the entire coaching staff and the general manager Alex Kline. Not only does McNamara have leverage to get himself hired, he has leverage to ask for appropriate compensation for an assistant coaching staff. If Syracuse doesn't want to pony up, somebody likely will.

There has been no official timeline for finding the next head coach at SU, but with a new athletic director now in place, the search can really hit the next level. McNamara's Siena team will play on Thursday or Friday of next week, and whenever they lose, his candidacy and interest should come into fuller focus.

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