Syracuse AD John Wildhack announces Adrian Autry will return as coach in 2025-26

Amid a disappointing 2024-25 season, Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack gave second-year Orange head coach Adrian Autry a vote of confidence. Wildhack announced Autry would be returning for a third season as Syracuse’s head coach in 2025-26, according to Syracuse.com.

“We’ve got to fix it,” Wildhack reportedly told Syracuse.com. “And Adrian knows that.”

Syracuse (12-18, 6-13 ACC) enters Saturday’s regular-season finale against Virginia having lost five of its last six games and nine of its last 12. Autry is 32-30 overall and 17-22 in ACC play over the past two seasons.

The 53-year-old Autry is an Orange alumnus who both played and coached under legendary Cuse head coach Jim Boeheim. Autry was a four-year starting point guard at Syracuse from 1990-94, where he led the Orange in assists all four seasons and still ranks fifth in school history with 631 career assists.

Following a brief professional career overseas, Autry started his collegiate coaching career. He served as an assistant under then-Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg in 2010 after two seasons as the Hokies’ director of basketball operations.

Autry then returned to his alma mater as an assistant under Boeheim from 2011-16 before being promoted to associate head coach from 2016-23. Autry then replaced Boeheim after the Orange legend retired in 2023 following 47 years at Syracuse.

Jim Boeheim breaks down how NIL, transfer portal create parity in college basketball

In the age of NIL and the transfer portal, there’s a growing sense of parity around college basketball. Kansas coach Bill Self recently pointed out as much because there’s so much player movement.

Former Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim sees it, as well – but in certain situations. He noted schools such as Ole Miss and Louisville as teams poised for NCAA Tournament runs due to big-time additions.

Three of Ole Miss’ top four scorers transferred into the program, while Louisville added 12 players through the portal this past offseason – including its top eight scorers. Those are two examples Boeheim used as programs that turned things around through the portal. But he also warned others, such as Kansas, might not find the same success despite talented additions.

“I see it if you look at specific schools. Like, a Mississippi, a Mississippi State, have never been good,” Boeheim told On3 via Zoom. “They got players in the offseason because of NIL. Now, they’re good. They’re good teams. I think you can be at the bottom, like Louisville was in our league, and get to the top.

“I think obviously, it’s not easy to figure out. And mistakes are made in the transfer portal. I think Kansas took a leading scorer from Wisconsin, AJ Storr, and he can’t even play. Can’t even get in the game. So that’s certainly hurt Kansas and their development of where they thought they’d be. But you get more balance because you can get players wherever you are.”

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.