New Syracuse Head Coach Adrian Autry Gets First Career Win

On November 6th, Syracuse Men’s Basketball kicked off the start of their season, and the start of their post-Jim Boeheim era with a win.

In his head coaching debut, Adrian “Red” Autry -- who had played under Jim Boeheim for four seasons from 1990-1994 and was an assistant coach on Boeheim’s coaching staff for 12 years before being named Boeheim’s successor -- led the Orange to an 83-72 win over the New Hampshire Wildcats. 

While Autry didn’t have too many thoughts about his first career win after the game, he will definitely be celebrating:

“I haven’t really had a lot of time to think about it,” Autry told reporters in his press conference after the game "I'm sure I'll have more thoughts about it tonight. My dad came up, so that was special. I had some friends up. Lot of texts before the game. Texts now. I'm sure it'll all sink in. I was really excited we held it together and escaped with the win."

Autry noted that there wasn’t too much of a difference in preparation changing from Boeheim to himself, but there is of course one big difference:

“Coach (Boeheim) let us be involved a lot,” Autry said. “It wasn’t that much of a difference.”

“It’s just me being the head coach,” Autry said. “Which is a big difference.”

Syracuse started the first ten minutes of the game on a very strong note, propelling to a 22 point lead. However, the Wildcats were able to cut the deficit to six points early on in the second half after stringing together an eight-to-nothing run. In the end, the Orange were able to hang on, thanks to Syracuses’ and Boeheim’s famed 2-3 zone.

Autry praised the 2-3 zone in a very humorous way at the end of the game, saying “Thank God for the 2-3 zone.”

Even while dealing with foul trouble, star guard Judah Mintz was able to finish the game with 20 points. 

Justin Taylor had a good game himself, putting up 14 points, six rebounds, and three assists.

“He’s (Taylor) just a consistent player. He never gets too high, never gets too low. He’s someone that I can count on,” Autry said.

Maliq Brown and Quadir Copeland both finished with ten points apiece. Copeland also added a team-high 13 rebounds in the win to record his first career double-double. JJ Starling, a Syracuse native and Notre Dame transfer, also had ten points but struggled shooting-wise, going three-for-thirteen from the field.

Autry had taken over the head coaching duties from Boeheim after he retired in March. Boeheim had been the head coach at Syracuse for the past 47 seasons, from 1976 to the end of last season. He is just the eighth head coach in the 123-year history of the Syracuse program.