In addition to my work covering Syracuse basketball on here, I cover mid-major basketball for our sister site, Mid-Major Madness. I have a focus on the MAAC and other northeast mid-majors. I’ve covered new Syracuse head coach Gerry McNamara extensively during his two seasons at Siena. Here are some of the stories I wrote about him, his players, and his team.
2024-25 MAAC Season Preview: This was the first I wrote about GMac in print. The MAAC Season Preview. Scroll down and click on the PDF and then
scroll to page 24 in the PDF, where I wrote about GMac’s team, who I ranked sixth in my preseason power rankings
“I felt like it was time for me to challenge myself and venture off,” new Saints head coach Gerry McNamara said. “To have an opportunity to lead a program like Siena, with incredibly rich history, and still be in my neck of the woods, anybody in my situation would have jumped at it.”
“The one thing I’ve learned over the years as a coach is that you’re always going to develop your own style,” McNamara said. “You can pull and draw the positive things of the people you’ve been around to better yourself.”
“We want every former student, former player, former coach, and anybody that holds Siena near and dear to their heart to be proud of the product that we put on the court,” he said.
I wrote that it would be hard to compete at the top of the MAAC in year one, but that there “should be enough proof of concept to keep the energy high going into year two.” I think I’m pretty satisfied with that evaluation.
Iona’s heartbreak, Siena’s thriller, and other MAAC notes from night one: GMac won his head coaching debut against Brown at home. I wrote briefly about it during my MAAC night one recap.
MAAC Recap: Marist has a breakout superstar, Manhattan’s Bronx Redemption, Siena’s cup defeat: GMac’s first loss came in the Albany Cup against UAlbany on the road. I wrote briefly about it in here.
Five things to watch on opening weekend in the MAAC: GMac’s first MAAC game was a matchup with Greg Paulus’ Niagara team. I wrote a little on the Syracuse connections that each have
Justice Shoats makes coaches regret turning him down: A feature on Siena guard Justice Shoats, who is from Wilkes-Barre
5 things to watch (1/3/25): I wrote about Siena entering MAAC play
MAAC notes (1/6/25): A quick note on Siena’s loss to Iona
5 things to watch (1/16/25): I had a quick note on Gavin Doty in a section about potential freshman x-factors.
With Marcus Jackson out for the next few weeks and Reid Ducharme having failed to meet expectations, there is a necessity and opportunity for Doty to continue to grow for the Saints. He’s played 37 minutes per game over his last four contests, and is averaging 8.5 rebounds in that span. Despite his youth, he’s not afraid of contact, and is able to fight with bigger players for rebounds and get in the lane to draw fouls.
Mekhi Conner, Brendan Coyle put up eye-popping stats, other MAAC notes: Brendan Coyle hit seven threes in the first seven minutes of the second half against Mount St. Mary’s, and I wrote about it.
“I’ve seen some really good shooting performances,” Siena head coach Gerry McNamara said. “I remember James Sutherland — who played for us at Syracuse — and we went on the road at Arkansas he hit nine threes. I don’t think he hit his first seven. I’ve hit nine in a game. I don’t think I hit seven in a row…. I don’t think I’ve seen that onslaught in that short period of time. It mean it was one after another”
5 things to watch (2/6/25): I wrote about continued Gavin Doty’s emergence
Deon Perry, Dejour Reaves, Tank Byard’s wild buzzer-beaters highlight MAAC weekend, other notes: Siena lost at the buzzer to Rider and I wrote briefly about it
Canisius stays alive with win over Siena, Iona’s lead evaporates, other MAAC notes: I actually didn’t get the chance to attend a Siena game in 2024-25 until late February, and it was its most disappointing performance of the year, a 93-88 wire-to-wire loss to Canisius, which ended up finishing dead last. Here’s my dispatch from Albany, which mainly focused on the Griffs.
McNamara went on to call Siena’s performance – which came off the heels of a 34 point drubbing of Niagara on Friday – an “embarrassment in terms of my identity in terms of where we are with this program and our identity as a team.”
2025 MAAC Tournament Preview: This was my preview for the 2025 MAAC Tournament, with notes on Siena
There were times this season where it looked like Siena was going to turn a corner and be very dangerous heading into Atlantic City. When Justice Shoats’ dribble penetration created space for Major Freeman and Brendan Coyle on the perimeter, the offense hummed. Especially once Gavin Doty burst onto the scene in late December and made every hustle play. But the Saints were far too inconsistent, never able to string together three straight MAAC wins and thus finished ninth.
Freshman Flash Burton thrives on the burden of responsibility in Rider’s 1st-round win: Siena’s season ended with a tough loss to Rider in the first round of the MAAC Tournament. This is a Rider-focused angle on that game.
2025-26 MAAC Season Preview: This was my MAAC Season Preview for this past season. I picked Gavin Doty a first-teamer, Justice Shoats a second-teamer, had Christian Jones on my All-Rookie team (miss!) and Marcus Jackson on my All-Defensive team (miss!). I power ranked the Saints first. The preview starts on Page 14 of the PDF. (Note, I screwed up the formatting on the PDF and accidentally had a segment of it printed twice. Whoops)
“I think we were kind of on the cusp of getting something rolling,” McNamara told Mid-Major Madness. “Then we’d get an injury, or we’d have that four-game stretch where we lose by a total of five points and miss 38 free throws. We just could never grasp the momentum to reel off a huge winning streak.”
“The core group that stayed felt that we left something on the table,” McNamara said. “That doesn’t sit right with us. Those guys made a decision of ‘we need to come back and have a better year because we know we’re capable of doing it’”.‘
Three MAAC Overreactions from the first week: Siena had the highest KenPom rank of any MAAC team in a few years after the first week of the season.
Siena’s Albany Cup win shows off strengths and weaknesses: Siena defeated UAlbany in the Albany Cup, but struggled in the second half after a dominant first half. I also asked GMac about his bench in this game, which didn’t give him a ton. That became a major topic of conversation after the Duke loss in the NCAA Tournament.
“I think for young players, the term leash, I hate that,” McNamara said. “This is winning basketball. Every possession matters. So the sooner you figure it out, the better off you’re going to be. You can’t afford to ‘oh, I made a mistake,’ that mistake might be the difference between winning and losing.
5 things to watch (12/3/25): A note on Siena being one of the top teams in the league
5 Stats to know from MAAC Opening Weekend: Siena’s bench showed up big in the first weekend of MAAC play and I noted it after wins over Canisius and Niagara.
Sizing up the MAAC coming out of non-conference play: After non-conference play, I wrote about each MAAC team in some level of detail slightly past the surface.
MAAC Report: Brendan Coyle’s big day for Siena: Brendan Coyle snapped out of a slump against Manhattan in January, and I covered his performance that day in a Saints’ win
“I’ve got four guys that made threes today,” McNamara said. “If you have more than two, it’s a big difference. I’ve got multiple people on the court that are taking the right shots and making them with confidence. If we defend at the level that we have all season for the most part, and we play the type of offense that we’re ultimately capable of playing, we’re pretty darn good.”
MAAC Report: Donny Lind’s energy, AK Kebe’s growth, Iona’s effort, & more: I covered Siena’s loss to Saint Peter’s in Jersey City as part of a doubleheader.
“Because you’re scoring inside,” McNamara said. “They collapsed a little bit, and it loosened up the game for us, and we just weren’t able to capitalize from the perimeter.”
MAAC Report: Spence Wewe shines, Quinnipiac holds off Siena, other notes: Siena lost at home to Quinnipiac in mid-February, I covered it up in Albany.
“There were a couple of quick hitting plays where it was still a two-possession game that we weren’t able to capitalize on,” Siena head coach Gerry McNamara said. “I think we had one or two turnovers after we got the ball, so those are the plays I look at, where you’ve done a really good job defensively, you got an opportunity to shrink the game, and you give the ball right back without making them have to work.”
Lifelong Siena fan Brendan Coyle looks to validate senior year with a championship: Heading into the MAAC Tournament, I spoke with Brendan Coyle about the Saints’ push for a title
MAAC Report: 2026 Men’s Tournament Preview: This was the MAAC Tournament preview
Siena epitomizes ‘Survive and Advance’ in win over Mount St. Mary’s: From Siena’s MAAC Quarterfinal win over Mount St. Mary’s
‘I’ll take our backcourt against anyone,’ Doty, Shoats lead Siena to semifinal win: From Siena’s MAAC Semifinal win over Fairfield
MAAC Championship returns Siena basketball to what it is supposed to be: From Siena’s MAAC Championship win over Merrimack
“I was coming here to prove myself that I could win at a high level,” McNamara said. “And I got the right guys to compete at the level it takes to be competitive to try to win something.”
Siena nearly pulls off miraculous upset against Duke in opening round: Siena’s near-upset of Duke in the NCAA Tournament
