Girshon: SU men’s basketball plummeted under Wildhack. What’s next is key.
Syracuse’s men’s basketball program plummeted during John Wildhack’s 10-year tenure as director of athletics. Leonardo Eriman | Senior Staff Photographer
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.
Syracuse men’s basketball is burning, and the questions surrounding what comes next may be as damaging as the fire itself.
In times of crisis like this, direction is necessary. But with SU Director of Athletics John Wildhack and Chancellor Kent Syverud set to leave their respective positions at the end of the 2025-26 school year, it’s unclear what direction actually looks like.
The looming decision Syracuse makes will define the future of its men’s basketball program. Whether that means retaining head coach Adrian Autry or moving in a new direction after the season, the choice will determine whether the Orange can return to college basketball’s upper echelon.
When Wildhack began his tenure as director of athletics in 2016, he inherited a Jim Boeheim-led program that made seven of the last eight NCAA Tournaments, including a team coming off a Final Four.
Following his retirement announcement on Wednesday, Wildhack will likely leave Syracuse with a Boeheim/Autry-led program that made just three NCAA Tournaments from 2017-26 and hasn’t been ranked in the AP Poll since the 2018-19 season.
If SU (13-11, 4-7 ACC) misses March Madness — which it’s tracking toward — it’ll mark its fifth consecutive absence. A spell that long (six straight seasons from 1967-72) hasn’t happened since Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon were in the Oval Office.
It’s clear: SU’s men’s basketball program plummeted under Wildhack.
If Wildhack has a hand in what happens next, the decision he makes regarding the head coach will define his legacy as Syracuse’s director of athletics. Wildhack said on Cuse Sports Talk Wednesday that stepping down from his role will not prohibit him from making a change if he feels it’s necessary.
The timing of Wildhack’s retirement announcement is simultaneously reasonable, interesting and confusing. With Syverud’s plans to leave SU announced in August and to become Michigan’s next president revealed in January, there was always going to be a cloud looming over Wildhack’s head.
Like general managers and head coaches in the NFL, a university’s chancellor and athletic director can sometimes be package deals. With SU amid its search for a new chancellor, it’s very realistic that the job opening is more attractive if they pick their AD.
That’s why Wildhack’s plan to retire makes sense.
With the added clarity that Wildhack won’t be at Syracuse following the school year, it’s smart that the announcement came well before a decision needs to be made about Autry’s future — why potentially leave it in limbo leading into one of the biggest decisions the university will ever have to make about one of its sports teams?
Still, the timing, coming one month before the ACC Tournament begins, raises eyebrows. And with Wildhack still in his role until July 1, it’s confusing.
With Syverud having one foot out the door, does Wildhack have free rein to decide as is?
Since Wildhack won’t be here come July, is he still the main decision maker?
Is Syracuse looking to find Wildhack’s replacement in the next month so that they can play a role in deciding Autry’s future?
Will the Orange’s chancellor and AD positions be more or less attractive if the basketball program’s decision is made by the previous regime?
These are all questions that need answers as soon as possible. Given how influential the looming Autry decision is, Syracuse needs a clear plan and a defined process for that verdict.
As Autry said preseason, every fan or person familiar with SU knows it’s one of the best programs in college basketball history. Right now, the Orange are best known for freshman Kiyan Anthony logging a DNP and star forward Donnie Freeman taking the crust off of an uncrustable.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Autry can’t be the one to bring SU back to the “Orange Standard.” But if the seemingly inevitable strikeout of missing March Madness comes, there’d be great reason to look in another direction.
Without question, this program means something. Six Final Fours. The 2003 National Champions. Basketball Hall of Famers in Boeheim, Carmelo Anthony and Dave Bing.
Syracuse is too good and historic a program for that something to be an afterthought any longer.
The best way to bring SU back is to nail the head coach decision.
If that happens, the fire will be extinguished, and the Orange will once again be a nationally prominent basketball school.
But if the decision is screwed up? The fire will continue burning the program down.
Justin Girshon is a Senior Staff Writer at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at justingirshon@gmail.com or on X @JustinGirshon.
