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On the night Joe Girard III scored his 4,000th high school point for Glens Falls, Gerry McNamara was there.
It's just one tiny anecdote from a McNamara basketball lifetime full of them, but it tells a story. G-Mac shows up. And at this point, with his alma mater Syracuse in need of its next basketball coach, maybe that's the best quality McNamara has to offer.
Thinking back to that historic night for New York state's all-time leading high school scorer, McNamara didn't have to be there at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The game started well past its scheduled time. Glens Falls was always going to run away on the scoreboard. All that was at stake was a round number for a Syracuse commit.
And there McNamara was, seated courtside the whole time with Girard's father, knowing that on that night, it was exactly where he was meant to be.
Girard, all these years later, vouched for McNamara on social media -- he thinks G-Mac is exactly the dude for the job:
You’re Crazy (& Wrong), If You Think Anyone Deserves The Cuse Job More Then Gmac. Did What He Said He Was Gonna Do, & Put Up A Great Fight On The Biggest Stage!
For Those Who Don’t Want “Another Cuse Guy” Don’t Realize The Uniqueness Of It. Part Of What Makes Cuse, Cuse! 🍊💙🧡
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McNamara was always a quality recruiter while on Jim Boeheim's staff, and even though the gig has changed considerably in recent years, he likely would be again as the head coach at Syracuse.
And he shows up in many more ways than that.
There was the national championship game in 2003, when a freshman McNamara drilled six 3-pointers in the first half. That's showing up.
There was Siena's upset bid on Thursday as a 16-seed against top overall seed Duke in the NCAA Tournament, a game in which McNamara nearly coached his team to the stunner of all stunners. That's showing up.
There are plenty of Syracuse fans who think SU needs to go away from the Orange pipeline. But reports indicate South Florida's Bryan Hodgson and Saint Louis' Josh Schertz have both turned in other directions. And there's no one who would show up for the Orange like McNamara.
It stems, in large part, because so many people always showed up for him. The Scranton, Pennsylvania legend used to have busloads full of people from his hometown arrive at the Carrier Dome for each game. Gerry had won over so many supporters that there was no question that they'd show up for him.
McNamara, if given the chance, can now show up for his beloved Syracuse. It's what he does. And maybe, in the end, it's exactly what the Orange need.
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