ghost? no.
Horrible brain-sucking zombies? no.
“Vermont.” He blurted out the reporter’s question before it reached the punctuation point.
Prior to a panel discussion in Albany on Oct. 9 that included former Syracuse University coach and Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim, McNamara offered specifics about his four years as the men’s basketball team’s star point guard at SU. I mentioned how painful the loss still is. him.
When asked if any of them stood out, he referenced SU’s 60-57 loss to the Catamounts in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, an incredibly dramatic upset of TJ Sorrentine’s No. 4 seed by a No. 13 seed. It was an incident. It was 30 feet late in overtime.
“There is no need to elaborate. TJ is a good friend. “Don’t even tell me his name.” McNamara’s expressionless response drew laughter from the media. “To Gus Johnson, ‘… Don’t say ‘In the parking lot!’ I don’t want to hear any of that. Knock on it. It was Worcester, Massachusetts. I remember it like it was yesterday.
“It haunts me at night. “I’m still shaking it off.”
This provides a decent window into what the Siena men’s basketball program is getting with its new head coach.
Mirroring Boeheim’s no-win, no-lose mentality, McNamara brought a fierce competitiveness to a team that went 4-28 last year. It was an unsettling disaster in a season that ended with the departure of coach Carm Maciariello.
McNamara brings the name of an SU legend who was a key part of the 2003 national title-winning team and enthralled Siena fans to a market where SU is also very popular. Excitement for the 2024-25 season begins Monday at home against the Browns through the roof of MVP Arena.
But beyond the name recognition and top-level Division I pedigree, perhaps McNamara’s most inspiring quality to the fan base is his absolute focus on winning.
“He (Boeheim) said I was the most like him out of our old staff because I want to win,” McNamara said. “It’s my core. It’s something I judge for myself, and something I’ve always loved. It’s an old saying that people hate losing more than they love winning. I did. I hated it.
“I remember more college losses than college wins. I think he and I are very similar, with consistency and fire. That’s probably why I went to play for him in the first place.”
McNamara appeared in 135 games and never missed a start over four seasons with Boeheim from 2002-06, during which time McNamara averaged 15.5 points and 35.5 minutes per game.
The 2003 national championship game included two games in front of partisan crowds in Albany during the East Regional semifinals and finals.
A highly recruited guard with roots and a big history in the small town of Scranton, Pennsylvania, McNamara had a variety of colleges to choose from and chose Syracuse for a number of reasons. Chief among them was the bond he formed with Boeheim. – Assistant Coach Mike Hopkins during this process.
In four years at Bishop Hannan High School, the team went 109-17 and McNamara was named Pennsylvania Player of the Year twice.
“I think a big part of it was the fact that they offered me a scholarship the first time they saw me,” McNamara said. “My recruitment has been very consistent and consistent.
“Well, I have a big family, I have good support from home, and the distance also played a part. You don’t choose a school because it’s close to home; you choose it because it’s the right fit. Luckily, I got both.”
“When we first met Gerry we went to see him at a small gym. He was the biggest player on the court and had about 26 in the first half,” Boeheim said. “I said, ‘Okay, I need this guy.’
“He’s a little bit under the radar because it’s a small town. It wasn’t nationwide. But you knew he was going to be a really good guy. The (national) championship game says it all. He made six 3-pointers in the first half, without which we would have never beaten Kansas. That got us started, and Carmelo (Anthony) and the other two guys were able to take us all the way.”
As a player, McNamara combined excellent outside shooting and intelligence with great competitiveness.
Boeheim believes McNamara will be able to successfully convey how important the will to win is for the Saints.
“Gerry didn’t need much coaching.” Boeheim said. “He understood how to play the game and learned how we play like any other player. He learned how hard it is to compete. He was a great competitor, he understood that, and he made sure his team understood that too.
“He’ll let them compete for 40 minutes. This is the essence of coaching.”
“He and I see the game in a very similar way,” McNamara said. “He never deviated from the way he wanted to play. Whether the game is won or lost, good or bad, his consistency and approach, not only in his practice plan but at an altitude that is never too high or too low, has never seen him do it. “You either get excited by a big win or you get super disappointed by a big loss.”
Other aspects of the sport could also offend Boeheim, and one of his most memorable rants was in defense of one of his favorite players, to the point where it even inspired a T-shirt.
During McNamara’s senior season, an anonymous poll published in the Syracuse Post-Standard the day before the start of the Big East tournament ranked him the most overrated player in the Big East.
After McNamara hit a running floater in the final minute to beat Cincinnati in the first round, Boeheim got his man in a tight spot with a profanity-filled defense. McNamara probably wasn’t planning on going to the NCAA Tournament at large, but he put up heroics for a Syracuse team that won four straight games in the conference tournament and earned an automatic bid.
“I think my wife is still mad at me.” Boeheim said with a laugh. “But it’s okay. Some idiot assistant coach said he was overrated and he is one of the best players in the league and has already won a national championship. He’s proven himself over and over again, and I don’t handle it very well when people criticize my players.
“Criticizing myself is part of the job. But when you went after one of my players, I reacted. Of course, he won tournament MVP, and he made three game-winning plays when we won the tournament.”
“I think my mother said it best,” McNamara said. “It makes me feel better as a parent. Even though they didn’t necessarily agree with the language he used, you see it as a decision to play for someone and want to know that they have your support. They support you during difficult times.
“I was going through a really, really hard time. People didn’t realize what I was going through physically, playing with a (pelvic) stress fracture for 20 straight games. He understood it. So for him to come to the plate for me after my college career meant the world to me and it meant the world to my parents.”
So Siena fans should feel confident that they have someone on their side when it comes to getting the program back to the success it has been hoping for for decades.
That said, it’s still about wins and losses.
When asked how long the honeymoon would last, McNamara said, “Until the first loss.”
“That’s all you have,” Boeheim said. “It’s very simple and he knows it. Even if you win, there may be people who think you should win more. That’s a job. You know what’s going in, right?
“He has broad shoulders. He’ll be able to handle it. It’s black and white. There is no gray area. ‘Well, maybe…’ ‘There is no word. You can either win or lose. It’s simple and he knows it.
“He always won. He always overcame adversity in high school and college to show people what a great person he was. He will do it here.”
