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T

he idea of Adrian Autry becoming a head coach isn’t a novel one. Bill Courtney realized it could happen when he worked with Autry at Virginia Tech over a decade ago. For Guy Rancourt and Allen Griffin, it was when Autry led a USA East Coast All-Star team in Europe. In 2019, Jim Boeheim said Autry was ready to be a head coach. 

For Seth Greenberg, Autry’s former boss at Virginia Tech, it clicked five years ago. He watched a practice at Syracuse, and saw his former assistant working with players one-on-one before and after practice, then injecting messages into the session that complemented Boeheim. “He was in total command of everything that he was involved with,” Greenberg said. He picked up his phone and called his wife. “Red’s ready,” Greenberg said. 

When Greenberg told Autry he was prepared to be a head coach, Autry agreed — he had wanted to be a head coach for years. Greenberg had given Autry his foundation at VT, where Autry served as director of basketball operations for two seasons and an assistant coach for one. 

In 2011, Autry left Virginia Tech to become an assistant under Boeheim at Syracuse. Six years later, he became associate head coach, assuming a larger presence in practices and recruiting. When Director of Athletics John Wildhack created a list of potential future head coaches, he reached the same conclusion as everyone else: Autry was ready. On Wednesday, that became reality. Autry, a former SU point guard, is officially the guy after the guy. Why him? Well, Wildhack said, Autry has been exposed to every aspect of the sport, and that uniquely prepares him for the job. 

“Adrian earned this,” Wildhack said Friday. “Adrian’s not here because he’s an alum, because he played here, because he’s an associate coach here. He’s here because I believe he’s the best candidate to lead this program and sustain the success that coach Boeheim has established over 47 years.” 

Autry’s work coaching and developing forwards, as well as his recruiting ties to the talent-rich Washington, D.C.-Baltimore region, makes Wildhack confident he’s ready to lead the program. 

“I am a new voice, a new face, with new ideas,” Autry said in his introductory press conference. “But the standards that have helped build this program will not change.” 

How does Boeheim, the architect of those standards, leader of the historic program Autry is taking over, feel about this change?

“Syracuse basketball is being left in the best of hands,” Boeheim said. “They won’t need me.”

***

Autry was once one of the nation’s top high school recruits, an All-American with offers from some of college basketball’s elite programs. As a 6-foot-4 point guard, Autry could drive, shoot and pass. He first met Boeheim when he was 16. Boeheim watched Autry score 30 points against Kenny Anderson, the soon to be No. 2 overall pick in the 1991 NBA draft, and said “that’s a guy we got to get to come to Syracuse.”

Autry came — and Boeheim always called him the easiest McDonald’s All-American he ever had to recruit, the new head coach said Friday. 

At Syracuse, Autry was a four-year starter, displaying a competitiveness and on-court coaching ability that led to a successful post-playing career. Autry was a typical New York City player, his former teammate Lawrence Moten said. He talked a lot of trash to motivate teammates, not bash them. 

Boeheim trusted his point guard to make the right play on the court, former teammate John Wallace said, and the two had a strong rapport. Autry was a “floor general,” Moten said, someone who got teammates in the right place at the right time. Autry still ranks fifth on Syracuse’s all-time assists list. 

Wallace could tell that Autry would become a coach one day, since he was an extension of Boeheim on the court. After Autry’s playing career ended, and his first season as a Virginia Tech assistant concluded, Boeheim realized he needed Autry to come back and be an extension of him on SU’s bench. 

And 12 years later, Autry received the first chance to extend Boeheim’s legacy at Syracuse. 

***

Back in the mid-2000s, the idea of succeeding Boeheim looked like a fantasy. Autry worked early-morning shifts for UPS, then as a settlement manager for a real estate company in northern Virginia. 

But he wanted to become a coach. He worked at Bishop Ireton High School (Virginia) for a season and then Paul VI High School the next. He coached for Team Takeover, an AAU powerhouse in the region, where he got to know Courtney, then an assistant at Virginia. Working at the AAU and high-school levels showed how strongly Autry wanted to be a coach, Courtney said. Autry swept the court before varsity games, drove kids to practice and took them out to eat. 

Those two years helped Autry significantly. He talked with college coaches constantly, listening to their recruiting pitches during visits. It allowed him to figure out how he would recruit as a college coach one day. 

And Greenberg was watching. He tried to recruit Autry out of high school, but missed. This time, Greenberg didn’t. He saw Autry interact with players during AAU practices, and talked to him multiple times during summer tournaments. 

“I just thought that he had every trait you would want in a potential assistant coach and a potential head coach,” Greenberg said. “He was a really good communicator. He was honest and straightforward. He showed compassion, but yet had a standard of what he expected from players.”

Adrian Autry is the new head coach of Syracuse men’s basketball, taking over for Jim Boeheim, who led the program for 47 seasons. Courtesy of Virginia Tech Athletics

Courtney (a Virginia Tech assistant in 2009-10) and Greenberg said Autry related to players well. He was able to balance giving tough love and a soft shoulder and gained “sweat equity” by getting on the court himself and practicing with the players. Autry started by organizing practice, game and shootaround schedules, work that carries over to being a head coach, Courtney said. 

Greenberg hired Autry with the intention of eventually promoting him to assistant. That happened in 2010, when Courtney became Cornell’s head coach. Greenberg got his assistants involved with every aspect of the program, doing video coordinator work, scouting, recruiting, player development and game planning. The goal, Greenberg said, was to prepare his staff to become head coaches down the road. 

“Adrian Autry is a head coach. He didn’t miss any steps,” Greenberg said. “He’s got an incredible feel for the game. He’s got a feel for people. He did everything.”

Autry was the lead guy when VT implemented a zone defense. But with the Hokies being mostly a man-to-man team, Autry built a strong foundation in teaching that defense, Greenberg said. On Friday, Autry alluded to potentially playing more man, saying Syracuse will play “whatever it takes” to win. 

***

Autry was excited to return to Syracuse in 2011. The goal, this time, was to become a head coach. And slowly, move by move, he inched closer to that. 

The first one came in the 2015-16 season, when Boeheim was suspended nine games after an NCAA investigation. Mike Hopkins became interim head coach, and Autry’s role increased. There were new ideas implemented, but Boeheim’s fingerprints were still all over what the Orange did day-to-day, said former walk-on Ky Feldman.

In March 2017, Hopkins left for Washington. SU promoted Autry to associate head coach, and while Feldman said the coach’s responsibilities didn’t change much, assistant Allen Griffin said the promotion demonstrated the trust Boeheim had in Autry. 

Since Hopkins’ departure, Autry has gained a larger presence in Syracuse’s practices. Previously, Hopkins had been the coach taking over practice if Boeheim ever had to step out early — something that happened once every few weeks — former manager and graduate assistant Benjamin Horwitz said. Once Autry took Hopkins’ place, he started doing that. 

In summer 2019, Autry got his first chance to lead a program. He was selected to coach the USA East Coast All-Stars — a team of college players — for a several-game tour in Greece. 

Rancourt, the head coach at Western Connecticut who oversaw the all-star program, reaches out to power conference schools every year to find the most talented coaches. Autry was the All-Star team’s assistant coach in 2018, and impressed Rancourt with his character and coaching abilities. 

The following summer, Autry impressed again. He ran all aspects of the program, including game planning and scouting, and was forced, for the first time, to make in-game adjustments — not just suggest them. Autry was “excellent” with making subtle changes during halftime and timeouts, Rancourt said. His ability to smoothly handle training camp practices and make playing time decisions made Rancourt and Griffin (serving as Autry’s assistant on the trip) realize Autry was ready to be a college head coach. 

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“There was not a blip in any area, I thought he had everything well covered,” Rancourt said. “He certainly brought it to a new level when I saw how refined he was as a head coach.”

Rancourt said everything completely changes when a coach moves 18 inches to the right on the bench and becomes a head coach. Autry impressed by frequently asking for Rancourt’s thoughts so he could gather as much information as possible. Autry embraced the adjustment from NCAA to international FIBA rules “wholeheartedly,” Rancourt said, showing his ability to learn and adapt quickly. 

“He’s ready to be an outstanding head coach,” Rancourt concluded.  

***

As a freshman, Benny Williams struggled with his jump shot. The freshman shot less than 34% from the field, averaging two points per game. So going into this season, when Williams would become a starter, he needed to improve his shooting. 

Williams worked on his shot with Autry every day in practice. Instead of shooting off the palm — which leads to flat shots — Williams shot more off his fingertips to get more arc. He started feeling more confident, with his field-goal percentage jumping 11 points and his 3-point percentage going up by 30%. Williams attributed that improvement to Autry’s coaching. 

Autry once gave Quincy Guerrier a hat to work on his shooting mechanics, Horwitz recalled. Guerrier used it every day to change his release point, making the hat frayed and stained after a couple weeks of use. His 3-point shooting increased almost 20% from freshman to sophomore year.

It illustrates Autry’s coaching abilities, but his ability to develop personal connections with his players runs deeper. When Kobe Bryant, one of Williams’ biggest influences, died in 2020, Autry was the only coach that reached out to him. It meant a lot to Williams, but even more to his mother, who couldn’t stop talking about Autry’s gesture. 

Freshman Chris Bell also said the biggest thing Autry helped him with this season was his jump shot. 

When asked earlier this season if Autry is prepared to be a head coach, Bell quickly responded, “most definitely,” because players love him. 

“If your players like you, that’s going to get you farther than a lot of other things,” Bell said. 

Autry has developed those relationships with everyone around him — managers, graduate assistants and former players included. He’s friendly to everyone, personable and approachable, said former Syracuse player Ryan Blackwell. Autry and his family took Feldman to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que when the walk-on arrived at SU in 2015. Autry asked what Feldman’s goals were. Feldman responded that he walked on because he wanted to become a coach. 

“He right away said, ‘if you want to be a coach, we’re going to make that happen. As long as you’re willing to work,’” Feldman recalled.

In less than 15 minutes, Autry had established a connection. It happened, Feldman said, because Autry is genuinely curious when meeting new people. Whatever motivates or interests someone is how Autry wants to connect with them. 

Feldman spent hours at a time in Autry’s office watching film and talking. Now a high school coach, Feldman thinks of what Autry would do in certain situations. Usually, that entails calling a player in for a one-on-one meeting, because that’s what Autry would do — he’d sit and listen. 

“When you go through the ranks like I have, it gives you an appreciation for every person under you,” Autry said. “I think a sign of a great leader is being able to relate and connect with people under you, they want to feel heard and understood.”

Adrian Autry is now the head coach of his alma mater. He previously served as an assistant and associate head coach under Jim Boeheim. Meghan Hendricks | Photo Editor

Coaches describe Autry as a “truth teller” who says to families what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. Greenberg said recruiting is all about two things: evaluating and relationships. Autry, he said, has both. Autry’s been Syracuse’s lead recruiter as associate head coach, helping SU bring in 4-star recruits like Williams, Justin Taylor and Jalen Carey over recent years. 

“Every time I saw him on campus with a recruit or the family, he’s always really engaged,” Horowitz said. “He makes it seem like he’s known the family or kid for years. He just has that vibe and atmosphere around him — he’s inviting and warm toward everyone.”

***

Syracuse’s assistants have gained larger roles over recent years, Feldman said. Boeheim was rarely involved in the first 30 minutes of practice, with assistants working with their position groups. But even in the following hour, when the Orange did team work, Boeheim rarely dominated practice. Griffin said Autry ran a lot of practices himself. 

Boeheim gave his assistants lots of “ownership,” Griffin said. Assistants had a large role in recruiting, game preparation and in-game decisions. They also handled the scouting reports, doing one every third game.

Now that he’s head coach, Autry said he wants Syracuse to be more versatile and adaptable, and to play with more pace. Griffin is excited to see Autry implement his vision and style of play. 

Autry met with players after taking the job, and will try to compile a roster that can get the Orange back to the postseason. Griffin and Gerry McNamara are expected to stay on SU’s staff, but Autry will have to hire a new assistant. Boeheim shut down the assertion that a new assistant needs to be an older mentor to “help” Autry coach. 

“He’s here as a coach, and he knows how to coach,” Boeheim said. “There will be no problem coaching going forward. None.”

Griffin said he’s only talked to Autry briefly since the promotion. “His life has changed drastically,” Griffin said. But in a phone call on Thursday night, Griffin told Autry that he and his wife needed to find a quiet room at some point this weekend, close the door and take it all in. 

The whirlwind 48 hours between Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning — a culmination of Syracuse’s months long succession plan as well as Autry’s 17-year coaching journey — have ended. 

With that settled, Autry can start trying to prove what those around him have known for so long: he’s ready for this. 

Published on March 12, 2023 at 4:27 pm

Contact Connor: [email protected] | @csmith17_