The Orange fired Adrian Autry earlier this week and are aggressively looking for his replacement, but there are three big questions facing the program right now.
The Syracuse University administration fired men's basketball coach Adrian Autry earlier this week after a 15-17 season that saw them go 6-12 in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the regular season and get eliminated in the first round of the ACC Tournament by SMU.
The Orange are aggressively looking for the next head coach and we've heard a preliminary list of candidates they are interested in.
However, as the search continues, there are three major questions that need answers.
1) How do they feel about a legacy hire?
Jim Boeheim held the Syracuse job for 47 years before retiring in 2023. His coach-in-waiting for a long time was former player Mike Hopkins. Once Hopkins eventually left for Washington, Syracuse pivoted to another former player (Autry) when Boeheim finally retired.
Syracuse has been a very insular program for a long time. Do the Orange want to "stay in the family" and bring in Hopkins or former player Gerry McNamara, or are they scared off by that idea? Is it time for a fresh approach?
Hiring someone who has institutional knowledge can be a very good thing, but it can close you off to other ways of thinking. How SU feels about that dynamic is the biggest thing to wonder about moving forward.
Washington Huskies head coach Mike Hopkins talks with the media after the Washington Huskies defeated the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion in 2023. Steven Bisig-Imagn Images2) How about the current roster?
In today's world of the transfer portal, it's fair to wonder what happens to a current roster when a coaching change is made.
It's undeniable that Syracuse had good underclassmen talent in 2025-26, but can they retain it under a new coach? Sadiq White Jr. and Kiyan Anthony will both be sophomores, while Donnie Freeman and Tyler Betsey will both be juniors.
If those four all return, there's a path to success for SU next season. If any or all of them leave, the new head coach will have to get right to work on finding top talent.
The transfer portal opens up right after the national title game on April 7.
3) How about the new administration?
Syracuse has a new chancellor coming in, and they've just hired a new athletic director in Bryan Blair. It's fair to wonder how much the new administration values athletics as a whole, but men's basketball in particular. Will they give the new head coach the resources he needs to rebuild Syracuse into the top-tier program it once was? Or will the program continue to be in the middle-to-bottom of the pack when it comes to NIL, as Boeheim suggests it is?
"If you don't have enough resources, that puts you behind," he told ACC Network. "You look at the league -- BC, Georgia Tech, now Syracuse -- three of the [lowest for] NIL money in the league. You have to look at that."
The NCAA Tournament begins on Tuesday night with the "First Four," and as the tournament moves on and teams are eliminated, we should start to get some clarity and urgency in the search.
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!