SYRACUSE, N.Y. – There always seems to be so much to say about the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball program (3-0). Despite missing the last three NCAA Tournaments, the world still stops for many Syracuse fans when the Orange tip off from the JMA Wireless Dome. Indifference hasn’t quite set in so much as interest has just waned for the celebrated program that captured the hearts of its fervid fanbase long ago.
Last season the program turned to 13-year assistant coach Adrian Autry to assume command. Following the morass of the previous decade, the rookie head coach took over a fading basketball brand in dire need of a fresh coat of paint. Autry, intent not to become just another heir to a Hall of Fame coach’s success, sought to modernize the program and bring Syracuse up to speed. He was “a new voice, a new face, with new ideas,” determined to put his handprints on the program. It’s been anything but easy.
The 2023-24 season was mostly forgettable by Syracuse standards. That is until we remember the significance of it being the first under a new head coach in nearly 50 years. Even if Syracuse’s greater ambitions fell short, the Orange nevertheless achieved a 20-win season for the first time in five years and finished tied for fifth in the ACC, its best finish since joining the league in 2013.
Numerous changes have been made under Autry’s watch. New staff members have been brought in that deviate from the traditional Syracuse family. A shift has been made in player personnel. Autry made hires to launch a new nutrition program, taking health and recovery more seriously. Practices now run longer. There’s a new defense. A new offense. Analytics have been embraced. Shootarounds were installed on game day. That’s a mouthful and it says nothing of the NIL evolution, now incumbent upon teams to embrace just to stay relevant. The adjustments won’t end there. It’s all part of Autry’s propulsive push to bring the storied Syracuse program forward, with the hope that those advancements have laid the foundation for this year and beyond.
Moving ahead, Syracuse basketball carries the burden of trying to live up to the lofty expectations set by its predecessor. That bar is not lost on Autry; the now second-year head man has invited the burden in. Although his system is a departure from Jim Boeheim’s traditions – including the 2-3 zone, among many other things – he’s still respectful of his forerunner.
“I think the one thing that I would say – and I think most of the coaches that have coached under him – the things that they’ve taken from him is the consistency,” Autry said in the preseason. “The consistency of being able to go in every day, no matter what, good or bad, and being able to push your guys and push your team to keep getting better.
“And I think that’s the one thing I’ve always taken from him. No matter what the record is, you go out and prepare for the next game and for the next week.”
Autry’s Syracuse team will need to bring that consistency along too as he continues to implement a modern style of fast-paced, positionless basketball. That includes playing with depth, pace and space in a five-out offense of versatile skill players at every position.
He’s not just another coach spinning a yarn about playing uptempo basketball either – it’s backed up by numbers (KenPom) as Syracuse is playing at its fastest adjusted tempo of the analytics era, surpassing even the frenetic pace of the 2002-03 team. Autry’s doing it with a new crop of guys as 11 of the Orange’s 12 scholarship players have committed to play with him as the head coach and it’s a different team dynamic in his second year.
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