CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Adrian Autry has been fired as head basketball coach at Syracuse after three largely unsuccessful seasons.
The school announced the decision Wednesday, one day after the Orange lost 86-69 to SMU in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Syracuse lost its final six games and 12 of the last 15 under Autry to finish 15-17.
Autry was 49-48 over three seasons after replacing Jim Boeheim and failed to reach the
NCAA Tournament.
“Adrian first came to Syracuse as a student-athlete in 1990, and this program has been a constant in his life ever since: as a player, assistant coach, associate head coach and ultimately as head coach,” Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack said in a news release. “His dedication to our student-athletes on and off the court never wavered throughout his time here, and we are grateful for his service and commitment to Orange Basketball.”
Autry said Tuesday after the loss that “ I didn’t get the results that we wanted.”
“It has been an honor to coach at my alma mater, ” Autry said in a statement Wednesday following the firing. “I want to thank Chancellor Syverud, John Wildhack, Jim Boeheim, my team and my staff for their support.”
The four-year Syracuse starter under Jim Boeheim and later his associate head coach took over for the retiring Hall of Famer in 2023, only to fail to gain any traction in carrying the program into its post-Boeheim era.
Last spring, Wildhack didn’t lay out specifically what Autry had to do to keep his job. He did, however, lay out clear expectations: “The goal of this program is we should be playing meaningful games in March.”
Wildhack already has announced he is retiring in July, and replacing Autry will be among his final responsibilities. A national search will begin immediately.
Autry failed to get the Orange to March Madness, the place where Boeheim routinely led them while building a nationally relevant program. Instead, Syracuse finished with consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1968-69.
Going back to NCAA Tournament expansion to 64 teams in 1985, Syracuse won the 2003 championship, reached the finals in 1987 and 1996, reached two other Final Fours in 2013 and 2016, and reached the second weekend 11 other times under Boeheim. Yet this year marks the fifth straight season without a bid, continuing a string of mediocrity across Boeheim’s final two years at the helm.
Autry was 24-34 in league regular-season play in his three seasons.
The Orange have lost 27 games by double-digit margins while managing just four Quadrant 1 wins that top a postseason résumé.
The nadir for Autry came on Feb. 16 with a 37-point loss to Duke, the Orange's worst ACC loss since joining the conference 13 years ago and tied for the fifth-worst loss in program history. The game symbolized how far the program has drifted, with the Orange overwhelmed in talent and athleticism.
Autry seemingly had an improved roster heading into the season. He retained his two best players in J.J. Starling and Donnie Freeman, while the transfer portal yielded a six-player haul that including ACC assists leader Naithan George. Syracuse also landed a quality recruiting class highlighted by consensus top-40 prospects Sadiq White and Kiyan Anthony, son of 2003 title winner Carmelo Anthony.
But the team failed to find any consistency. A defensive intensity preached by Autry peaked in a win over Tennessee in early December, then vanished. The trademark 2-3 zone that once frustrated opponents had been replaced by a unit that too often looked disorganized and vulnerable. Stretches of that isolation offense, inconsistent guard play and limited interior toughness undermined late-game execution.
Starling and Freeman, who missed nine games because of injury, mostly struggled. The Orange rarely played to maximum “Level 5” effort and too often had prolonged “dips" — words that became part of the Autry vernacular. Near-upsets of Houston and Kansas were followed later by inexplicable losses to Hofstra and Boston College.
As the program changed hands over to Autry in October 2023, he had preached Syracuse was striving to return to the “Orange Standard.”
“I think we all know where we want to be as a team, what we want to be as a program,” Autry said at his introductory news conference.
At the end of the Autry era, Syracuse stood the furthest it’s been from that standard in a long while.
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Wawrow reported from Buffalo, New York. AP freelancer Mark Frank in Syracuse, New York, contributed to this report.
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