Legendary Syracuse men's basketball player Gerry McNamara is now just one win away from leading a team to an automatic NCAA tournament bid. The head coach at Siena University for the last two seasons, McNamara took over the reigns of a program that had gone 4-28 the season prior.

This year? He's got the Saints out to an 22-11 mark. They'll play in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) championship on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET against top-seeded Merrimack.

The game will air nationally on ESPN2.

As a four-year player for the Orange, McNamara helped lead Syracuse to its lone national title in 2003. McNamara started and played in 135 games, finishing with 2,099 points, which ranks fourth on the school's all-time scoring list. McNamara is the school's career leader in 3-point field goals (400), free-throw percentage (.888), and minutes played (4,799). He also ranks second in steals (258).

His No. 3 jersey was retired by the program in 2023.

McNamara has been named as one of the 25 finalists for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award. The award honors a Division I coach who shows integrity and off the court. 

This is one of two national awards that McNamara has been nominated for. This past December, he was named a Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Award finalist. That award is presented to the nation's top mid-major coach. 

Siena finished tied for second place in the MAAC, but was placed as the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament due to tiebreakers. In the quarterfinal round on Saturday, the Saints defeated Mount St. Mary's 63-58.

On Sunday night, Siena defeated Fairfield 76-61 in the semifinals. The two wins in Atlantic City are more than the Saints' conference tournament win total from the last eight seasons combined. Siena is appearing in the conference title game for the first time since 2017. A win over No. 1 Merrimack would put the Siena Saints into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2010. 

Prior to being named the head coach at Siena, McNamara served on staff at Syracuse for 15 seasons, helping the Orange make the NCAA Tournament nine times. Several fans want to see McNamara replace Adrian Autry, who is about to finish up his third year at the helm of the program.

The Orange are a disappointing 15-16 on the season and earned the No. 14 seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

Over the past few months, McNamara has weighed in on what's happening at his alma mater. This past January, McNamara discussed his relationship with Autry. Earlier this season, our own Brady Farkas gave his take on why if Autry is dismissed as Syracuse's head coach, the hiring of McNamara to replace him is not that simple. 

Remember to join our SYRACUSE on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Orange fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!