The search for Syracuse's next men's basketball coach continues after the firing of Adrian Autry earlier this week. The Orange went 15-17 and were eliminated by SMU in the first round of the ACC Tournament on Tuesday. The program is set to miss the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive season.

Immediately after the firing was made official, six names surfaced as top-tier candidates for the job. However, that list is already dwindling after St. Louis announced that Josh Schertz has agreed to a new deal with the school.

And another recent coaching change could cause that list to shrink even further.

Here's what you need to know.

Kim English was fired as the Providence head coach following the team's 85-72 loss to St. John's in the Big East quarterfinals. This year's Friars squad finished with a 15-18 record. In his three seasons as head coach, English went 48-52 and had no winning campaigns.

According to Field of 68 college basketball writer Jeff Goodman, Bryan Hodgson is the "leader in the clubhouse" for the opening. He's currently the head coach at South Florida and has the Bulls at 23-8 on the season.

Goodman posted the following on "X:"

It’s official from Friarland. Kim English is out.

As I said a week or so ago, South Florida’s Bryan Hodgson is the perfect fit for the Providence job.

And per sources, Hodgson is the leader in the clubhouse. However, he has multiple options.

Born in Olean, N.Y., Hodgson has emerged as one of the top candidates for the Orange's head coaching spot. Hodgson's New York roots include graduating from Jamestown High School and playing as a member of the Jamestown Community College basketball team in the mid-2000s. Following his playing career, Hodgson began his coaching career as an assistant at Division III Fredonia State in 2007.

Just 37 years old, he previously coached at Arkansas State, where he had consecutive 20-win seasons. He was also an assistant coach at Alabama and Buffalo under Nate Oats.

He clearly has ties to New York and has familiarity with the area, which make him a logical candidate. However, if Providence is that interested, SU has competition. 

Before English took over as the school's head coach, the Friars were led by Ed Cooley. During Cooley's 12-year run as head coach, the Friars qualified for the NCAA tournament seven times. Providence has won two Big East championships in its program's history and reached two Final Fours, with the most recent being in 1987. 

Cooley left for Georgetown in March 2023.

It's a program with real history that could be appealing to Hodgson, especially if Providence acts decisively. 

Syracuse has announced the appointment of Bryan Blair as the school's new athletic director, meaning they can now move onto this hire. Blair spoke to ESPN's Andrea Adelson and had this to say:

"Anytime you've got to hire a coach, you're going to feel that pressure,... "You hire the individuals that dictate the experience of your student-athlete, and when you're talking about a sport like Syracuse basketball, in many ways, dictates the image and the self-esteem of a department and sometimes an institution and a region."

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