Insiders verified to ESPN on Wednesday that Syracuse dismissed Adrian Autry, their men’s basketball head coach, thus concluding his three-year term leading the Orange, a period during which the team failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament.
On Tuesday, their season concluded with an 86-69 defeat by SMU in the opening round of the ACC tournament. The Orange suffered six consecutive defeats to close out the season, achieving an overall record of 15-17 (6-12 ACC).
“I don’t shy away from the job that I did,” Autry stated during his postgame press conference after the loss to the Mustangs. “I’m harder on myself than anybody. I didn’t get the results that we wanted.”
In 2023, Autry was elevated to succeed Jim Boeheim, taking over for the legendary figure after his 47-year leadership. Autry had competed for Boeheim at Syracuse from 1990 to 1994, then served as an assistant coach for him for 12 years from 2011 to 2023, with his final seven years spent as associate head coach.
His initial season at the helm proved to be Autry’s most successful, as he guided the Orange to 20 victories and an 11-9 standing in the ACC. They concluded the season tied for fifth place within the conference and secured a victory against ACC champions North Carolina towards the end of the season.
Nevertheless, Syracuse failed to reproduce that level of achievement, logging records of 14-19 last year and 15-17 this current season, consistently ranking 14th in the ACC annually. The organization increased its NIL funding for this season, and there was sufficient theoretical talent to contend for an NCAA tournament spot. However, after mid-February wins against California and SMU placed Syracuse in a precarious position for qualification, the Orange failed to secure any further victories for the remainder of the period.
Across three campaigns, Autry accumulated a 49-48 record and did not advance to the postseason.
The intention had been for departing athletic director John Wildhack to dismiss Autry, and for the succeeding athletic director to appoint the subsequent coach. Wildhack declared his upcoming retirement in February; he is scheduled to depart from the institution on July 1.
CBS Sports initially broke the news of Autry’s dismissal.