In Adrian Autry’s eyes, a new era of Syracuse basketball has just begun.
Yes, it was two years ago that Autry took over for longtime coach Jim Boeheim, but a lot has changed since then. Only recently has the historic program fully adjusted to the modern landscape of college basketball.
“Obviously, there’s tradition (here), but it’s a new time,” Autry tells Hoops HQ. “Now different factors are involved. There are so many factors: international players, NIL, portal. So this is new. This is not the old. And that’s what I’m excited about. We’ve gone through that time, we’ve adjusted, we’ve adapted, and I think this year’s team and roster is the start of what that new Syracuse basketball is about.”
Of course, the old Syracuse basketball found much success, reaching six Final Fours and winning the 2003 National Championship. In 47 seasons at the helm, Boeheim guided the program to 1,116 wins and 35 NCAA Tournament appearances. Autry served on Boeheim’s staff from 2011-2023 before assuming the head coaching job. He also played for Boeheim in the early 1990s, starting 116 of 121 games in four years. He still ranks among the school’s all-time leaders in assists and steals.
The Orange had a very disappointing 2024-25 campaign, especially by their standards. They finished 14-19 (.424) and had their least number of conference wins (7) since 2006. The last time a Syracuse team posted a win-loss percentage that low was 1968-69.
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Injuries were a major factor. The team’s two leading scorers, 6-foot-4 junior guard JJ Starling and 6-foot-9 freshman forward Donnie Freeman, missed a combined 26 games. Still, Autry admits that the program’s approach to roster building during the 2024 offseason could have been significantly better.
“It was the first year we went through — and I went through — the transfer portal slash NIL,” Autry says. “My first year, it was really about retention. And so, year one going through that process, it (taking) as long as it took to get the team together and get everybody together, I think the biggest thing that I learned is that I had to go out and try to get a better grip of that.”
So, in July of 2024, the Orange hired former New York Knicks scout Alex Klein to be their new general manager. Shortly after, they added analytics expert Eugene Tulyagijja to assist with scouting, player NIL evaluation and more. “Basically, I went out and got a front office,” Autry explains.
The result has been a much more focused approach to the 2025 offseason. Autry and his staff went into March with a stronger understanding of the market so that they could be proactive instead of reactive. Step one in their meticulous plan was to retain Starling and Freeman.
“I think this year’s team and roster is the start of what that new Syracuse basketball is about.”
Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry
A gifted scorer, Starling averaged a career-high 17.8 points per game last season, to go along with 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Freeman, who was a 2024 McDonald’s All-American, averaged 13.4 points and 7.9 rebounds before a right foot injury ended his freshman season in early January. Both players announced their intention to return at the end of March. “It was the key to everything,” Autry says. “It was the only way the plan could work.” Autry adds that Freeman has benefitted from watching more film while sidelined and has also grown an inch since he last played.
The recruiting process was considerably easier for Syracuse given it had a solid foundation to build around. The program prioritized adding athleticism and positional size in the portal. Autry believes last year’s team struggled on defense in large part because it was lacking in those two areas (Cuse allowed 77.8 points per game, which ranked 323rd in the country.). With a pair of dynamic offensive weapons already in the mix, the Orange pursued defensive specialists — players who, according to Autry, have defense “as a part of their DNA.”
The first transfer to commit was William Kyle III, a 6-foot-9 senior forward from UCLA. Kyle played sparingly for the Bruins — Mick Cronin’s roster was loaded in the frontcourt — but the athletic big man shined as a sophomore at South Dakota State in 2023-24, averaging 13.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks and winning Summit League Defensive Player of the Year.
Within the next two weeks, Syracuse received commitments from three more transfers: 6-foot-3 junior guard Naithan George (Georgia Tech), 6-foot-9 sophomore forward Ibrahim Souare (Georgia Tech) and 6-foot-5 senior guard Nate Kingz (Oregon State).
George, an elite floor general, will step into the starting lineup at point guard. As a sophomore with the Yellow Jackets, he led the ACC in assists per game (6.5), while also averaging 12.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 steals. His teammate, Souare, logged limited minutes but showed flashes of being a solid defender, rebounder and finisher around the rim. Kingz, who started all 31 games he appeared in for the Beavers, has good size and an excellent outside shot. He averaged 11.8 points on 50.4 percent shooting from the field and 44.6 percent from behind the arc. Cuse was a poor three-point shooting team in 2024-25, connecting on just 32.8 percent of their 19.5 attempts per contest.
The Orange rounded out their impressive transfer class, which Hoops HQ ranks No. 23 in the country, with 6-foot-8 sophomore forward Tyler Betsey (Cincinnati) — a highly touted prospect in the class of 2024 with a versatile skill set that includes a three-pointer — and 6-foot-4 senior guard Bryce Zephir (Montana State). Combine their haul in the portal with a recruiting class ranked No. 10 nationally by 247Sports and the Orange are well-equipped to turn things around next season. Among their incoming freshmen are two consensus top-30 recruits in 6-foot-8 forward Sadiq White (IMG Academy) and 6-foot-5 guard Kiyan Anthony (Long Island Lutheran), the son of Syracuse legend Carmelo Anthony. Autry says that both guys are ready to contribute right away.
“You can just tell that he loves the game and he loves challenges,” Autry says about Anthony. “He’s gotten better each year and he still has room to grow because he physically is not there yet. I’ve seen improvement — big jumps from year to year. He’s a guy who knows how to put the ball in the hole and he can do other things. He’s not just a scorer. He can pass the ball, (has a) high IQ. His teammates love playing with him.”
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Autry describes White as an “NBA athlete” who has a lot more to his game than people realize. “You can get wowed by what he can do athletically, but when you break it down, just talking to him and watching him, he makes the right play,” Autry says. “He’s a very good passer. Obviously he’s improving on his shot, but he has a toughness and a grit about him.”
With a new front office and a clear plan of attack heading into the offseason, Syracuse has successfully remade its roster for the 2025-26 campaign. Of course, this is merely page one of the program’s next chapter. As Autry puts it, “this is the re-establishing” of Syracuse men’s basketball.
