Head coach Gerry McNamara recently said that the Orange were looking for 1-2 more games to fill out the non-conference schedule, and they've secured one of those on Thursday.
The Syracuse University men's basketball team has added another non-conference game to its ledger for 2026-27, with Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports posting on social media that the Orange will host the University at Albany.
New head coach Gerry McNamara recently indicated to Rothstein that the Orange were looking to finalize 1-2 more non-conference games, so this seems to fill one of those spots.
Syracuse will also play Providence and Indiana next season, and McNamara said he's trying to work on a game at Madison Square Garden. The presumption is that that would come against St. John's, but that is not fully known at this time.
After going 0-3 there this past season, the Orange will not be returning to the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.
About the Orange in 2026-27
It's a new era for the program, which fired Adrian Autry in mid-March and hired McNamara. Syracuse went 15-17 this past season, missing the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight campaign.
JJ Starling and William Kyle III have been lost to graduation, while Nate Kingz, Donnie Freeman and Naithan George have all left via the transfer portal. That means that McNamara has had to replace his entire starting lineup from last season.
Freeman signed on with St. John's, making a potential matchup with the Red Storm at MSG even juicier.
Despite the massive roster needs, McNamara has done a good job thus far finding new players of his own in the portal. Syracuse has added Gavin Doty and Francis Folefac, who accompany McNamara from Siena. They've also added a nice scorer in Aidan Tobiason from Temple, point guard Garwey Dual, and big man Luke Wilson from Appalachian State.
Syracuse Orange forward Sadiq White Jr. (0) drives the ball as Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Jalen Haralson (10) defends in the second half at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mark Konezny-Imagn ImagesAbout the Great Danes
UAlbany went 11-21 this past season, finishing 7-9 in the America East Conference. Though they are long and athletic under head coach Dwayne Killings, the Danes have struggled for several years.
Albany hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2014-15 and has just one winning record (17-16) since 2017-18.
Killings has been there for five seasons and has a familiarity with McNamara, as the two played each other when McNamara was at Siena.
Also on campus
--The Syracuse women's basketball team, coming off its own trip to the NCAA Tournament, has added another player in the transfer portal. Jaleesa Molina formerly played at Temple and will join the group after averaging 9.8 ppg this past season.
The SU women advanced to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament, losing to UConn.
Syracuse finished in a tie for fifth place in the ACC this past season, winning a game in the NCAA Tournament before being eliminated in the Round of 32.
Join the Conversation
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!