Syracuse Basketball's New Coach: Building a Contender

0:00On March 16, Syracuse University's men's basketball team is on the hunt for a new head coach after parting ways with Adrienne Autry following two. Straight losing seasons, finishing 15 wins and 17 losses this year. Outgoing and incoming senior administrators are already working together on a short list of candidates. The goal is a quick turnaround, like Miami's under first year coach, Jay Lucas, who boosted the hurricanes from just seven wins last season to a number. Seven seed in the NCAA tournament. Syracuse came close in several games against teams like Houston, Hofstra, Clemson, Boston College and Virginia Tech, where different results could have pushed them to 20 wins. Still, the orange have struggled in the ACC, failing to win more than one game in any conference tournament during their time there, and they've missed the NCAA field for five straight years. Calls for a coaching change, grew louder after those consistent posties and droughts, despite the program's strong fan base and history of deep, tournament runs.

1:04Lucas shared advice that last week's ACC tournament, stressing the importance of building on that foundation, while bringing in the right players too, spark success. Miami rebuilt smartly around three senior transfers with posties and experience, including ACC first team picks, Malik Reno, Trey Donaldson and Ernest. A D Junior, plus True Washington, they spin about the conference average of $8.2 million on those key pieces, then rounded out the roster with Freshman, Roll, Players and International Talent. Syracuse faces a massive roster overhaul, replacing 11 of 13 scholarship spots with likely just one to three players returning. With similar or even more spending power available, the new coach could assemble an NCAA contending group right away and get the dome rocking again. Next season.