The first round was everything Duke didn't want in the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils had to overcome a solid deficit against 16-seed Siena in order to make it to the Round of 32, and head coach Jon Scheyer made a surprising admission after the game.
Not just one, but two Duke players admitted that they thought Siena would be a cake walk in the first round, but the Saints came out swinging and landed many blows on the Blue Devils. Even though Duke walked away victorious, Scheyer knew he was out-coached by Siena's head coach, Greg MacNamara.
"I think that’s one of the hardest positions to be in," Scheyer said after the game. "G-mac, he out-coached me."
Now, Scheyer will be seeing MacNamara a whole lot more in the future as Syracuse is expected to hire him as their next head coach, according to Dick Weiss.
here's a fitting ending to a feel good story. former Syracuse star, Siena coach Gerry MacNamara is expected to become the Orange's next basketball coach.
— Dick Weiss (@HoopsWeiss) March 22, 2026
Syracuse is expected to hire Siena's Greg MacNamara as new head coach
After firing Adrian Autry at the end of the season, the Orange have been in search of their next head guy, and it seems they chose someone close to home. Syracuse is expected to hire Siena head coach and former Syracuse legend Greg MacNamara, as their next head coach, and now Duke will have to play against him every season for the foreseeable future.
Clearly, MacNamara did his homework on Duke before the first-round matchup and had his guys ready to go, and it paid off for a while. Unfortunately, it just wasn't enough in the end for the Saints, but MacNamara certainly had a head-turning performance in that game.
MacNamara will have a lot more resources at Syracuse that he simply didn't have at Siena, so the Orange could become a real problem for Scheyer and Duke in the future. MacNamara could become a new coaching nightmare for Scheyer in the ACC.