New Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team head coach Gerry McNamara appears to have locked in another spot on the bench.
Former Penn State associate head coach Jamal Brunt is reportedly leaving his position there to join the Orange’s coaching staff, according to a report released Thursday from Jon Sauber of The Centre Daily Times.
This development comes shortly after TNIAAM learned former VCU assistant coach Ryan Daly will also be a part of McNamara’s staff as an assistant.
Like Daly, Brunt also has ties to VCU. Prior to serving three years in his associate head coach role with the Nittany Lions, Brunt had been an assistant with the Rams for several seasons.
Brunt served as Penn State’s defensive coach during his time there. In his first two years, he helped the Nittany Lions finish 81st and 69th overall in adjusted defensive rating, per KenPom. In 2025-26, Penn State ranked 121st in the category en route to a Big Ten-worst 12-20 overall record and 3-17 conference record.
That defensive reputation was far stronger with VCU. The Rams ranked top-15 in four of the five seasons Brunt coached the defense as an assistant, and the team never ranked lower then 45th, according to KenPom.
Additionally, Brunt also brings to the Orange a reputation of being a solid recruiter.
At VCU, he assisted with getting the program the best top-ranked class in the Atlantic 10 for multiple seasons. Before that, Brunt spent several years as an assistant with Miami (FL), which had some of its best recruiting classes while he was there (including landing a commitment from then-five-star prospect Lonnie Walker).
We’ll keep you posted as we learn more about how the rest of McNamara’s coaching staff shapes out.
