Former Syracuse Orange head coach Adrian “Red” Autry has officially been announced as an assistant coach for the Virginia Cavaliers. The announcement came this afternoon that Autry will be joining Ryan Odom’s staff as an assistant.
Autry fills the spot left by former Associate Head Coach Griff Aldrich, who left the Cavaliers’ staff to become the head coach at Pepperdine
University. Although that has not been confirmed yet, if the position of associate head coach is filled, it’s more than likely to have Autry’s name on it. It is also possible that Odom rolls with four assistant coaches for the season, as most but not all programs have an associate head coach.
Autry was fired as the head coach of Syracuse after just his third season. He went 49-48 during his time there, and according to his predecessor, Jim Boeheim, his firing was due to his star players having down years and wasn’t a reflection of the type of coach Autry is. “I think he got in a situation where his best players just didn’t play the way they needed to play, and it cost him his job.”
Before his head coaching position at Syracuse, he served as an associate head coach and assistant coach on Jim Boeheim’s staff for a total of 12 seasons. In that time, the Orange had a lot of success, making the NCAA tournament seven times and reaching the Final Four twice. Virginia fans may remember the Orange’s run to the final four in 2016 very well. Autry is now “excited and grateful for the opportunity to join Coach Odom and the Virginia men’s basketball program,” according to a release by UVA.
This hire is also a reunion for Odom and Autry, as they were both part of the Virginia Tech coaching staff from 2008 to 2010 under Seth Greenberg. Odom also spoke to Autry’s integrity, experience, commitment to developing players, and knowledge of the game as reasons he is a great fit for the Cavaliers’ program.
“We are thrilled to add Adrian Autry to our coaching staff at Virginia,” Odom said. “His integrity, extensive experience, commitment to player development and knowledge of the game make him an invaluable addition to our program. I am confident he will help us continue our pursuit of excellence at Virginia. We look forward to welcoming Adrian, his wife, Andrea, and their family to Charlottesville.”
