Syracuse fired men’s basketball coach Adrian Autry on Wednesday, three years after he replaced legendary coach Jim Boeheim.
Under Autry, who played for Boeheim and was an assistant coach on his staff, the Orange finished 49-48 with no NCAA Tournament appearances. They didn’t make the tournament in the final two years of Boeheim’s 47 seasons, leaving Syracuse without a chance to play for a national title the past five seasons.
That is the longest drought in more than 50 years.
“Adrian first came to Syracuse as a student-athlete in 1990, and this program has been a constant in his life ever since: as a player, assistant coach, associate head coach and ultimately as head coach,” athletic director John Wildhack said in a news release. “His dedication to our student-athletes on and off the court never wavered throughout his time here, and we are grateful for his service and commitment to Orange Basketball.”
Autry, 54, coached his final game on Tuesday, with the Orange losing to SMU 86-69 in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. Syracuse finished the season at 15-17 (6-12 ACC) and was 1-11 in Quad 1 games.
Syracuse reached the 20-win mark in his first season (20-12) but was 14-19 in 2024-25.
Postgame Tuesday, Autry addressed the difficulty of being an NCAA coach in this era.
“When I took this job, I knew the expectations that come with it. I was a player and part of it, and every day, I tried to honor that,” he said. “What I’ve learned is that there are a lot of different variables in today’s world that you just can’t overlook to get to that standard again. The landscape of college athletics has changed. To be where we want our standard to be, a lot of those things change, and I think that was the struggle for me to adapt. To be able to compete nationally is different now.”
The university said a national search for Autry’s replacement would begin immediately.
“We are going to move quickly and with purpose,” Wildhack said. “This is one of the most storied programs in college basketball, and we intend to hire a proven winner who will build on that legacy. We are looking for a coach who can recruit at the highest level, develop players and compete for championships, conference and national. Syracuse fans deserve nothing less, and that is exactly what we are going to deliver.”
–Field Level Media
