Finally, it seemed as though all the nagging injuries that plagued Gerry McNamara had healed. All the dings, dents, pulls and bruises from a roller-coaster professional career were gone.

That is, until he started working the Syracuse basketball courts that had made him famous.

‘I was feeling better,’ said McNamara, pulling up his pant leg, gesturing toward a swollen ankle. ‘Until I played the other night and got one of those.’

But the difference is, unlike the rigors that come with a journeyman career overseas and in the depths of the NBA’s developmental league, McNamara is happy now. Starting this year, McNamara will join the Syracuse basketball staff as a graduate manager, which allows him to mentor players while studying under head coach Jim Boeheim and assistant Mike Hopkins, who originally recruited McNamara in 2002.

Though McNamara has come back to visit over the years, this is his first official position with the university, since graduating in 2006.

‘It’s kind of funny, the day I came back, I felt more comfortable,’ McNamara said. ‘You kind of fall into your old mold and the only difference is, I live off-campus now instead of on-campus. I feel comfortable here and I’m happy here, and the reason I came back is because I love Syracuse basketball.’

After helping lead Syracuse to its only national championship in 2003 as a freshman, McNamara went on to score 2,099 points and tally 648 assists in four years with the Orange.

But the honeymoon ended shortly after his final game in the Carrier Dome. The NBA Draft came and went without any mention of his name at the podium. Instead, just a glimmer of hope at the Orlando Magic summer program, which ended without a contract offer.

So McNamara packed his bags and shipped off 10 hours away from his native Scranton, Pa., and bounced around with Greece’s Olympiacos BC before coming back to the states to do a year-long stint with the NBDL’s Bakersfield Jam in California. Two more years overseas – one in Greece with Panionios BC and one in Latvia with BK Ventspils – followed before another unfruitful NBA training camp with the Utah Jazz in 2008.

The road was nearly impossible. He wasn’t in the right places. He was a world away from the people he cared about. Those nagging injuries refused to heal.

‘It was tough,’ McNamara said. ‘I had a tough time living overseas. Part of the reason I decided not to play anymore, aside from the fact I had some injuries that just wouldn’t heal and for quality of life, I just didn’t have a great time. I didn’t have a great experience overseas, and that probably hurt the way I felt about professional basketball over there.’

Now, though, McNamara is back and ready to advise players that may one day be in the same situation. He’s not that far removed from the program, he says, and he’s getting to know most of the team pretty well.

And for a SU team that’s searching to find an identity after the loss of its three leading scorers, there may not be a better face to have around, Boeheim said.

‘Gerry understands the game; he’s been there, and the players know that,’ Boeheim said. ‘Just him being here helps. We have two guys that have been to the Final Four as starting point guards (the other being player development coordinator Lazarus Sims). One got to the finals, one won, so I think that’s pretty good experience to be able to talk to those guys. We’re happy to have him back.’

Most importantly, McNamara is where he wants to be. No longer does he have to worry about hitchhiking his way across the country while chasing that last shot at professional glory. Instead, he’s ready to settle, ready to do what’s right for him.

‘I knew if I came back here after Coach asked me, I’d be happy,’ McNamara said. ‘And when it all comes down to it, that’s what I want to be – happy.’

Boehiem talks preseason rankings

The one thing that’s predictable about Syracuse basketball this year is unpredictability. After losing underclassmen Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris following last year’s Sweet 16 run, the team is in need of a new identity.

This uncertainty has been reflected in many preseason polls, as the Orange has run the gamut between trendy sleeper and conference bottom-dweller.

For Boeheim, he wasn’t surprised to see the Orange ranked outside of the Top 25 in some polls and out of Big East conference contention. That’s to be expected after a year like last year. But when asked about the subject at Media Day Friday afternoon, he remained relatively optimistic.

‘It’s a pretty wide fluctuation this year, and I’m surprised that we’d be high in anybody’s mind,’ Boeheim said. ‘When you lose your three leading scorers, you’re not going to get much support the next year, but that’s OK. It’s happened here before and we’ve scraped through the year.’

ctorr@syr.edu

Published on October 19, 2009 at 12:00 pm