Jim Boeheim says Syracuse players cost Adrian Autry his job - ESPN

Jim Boeheim defended Adrian Autry as «a good coach,» saying his dismissal from Syracuse was a result of poor performance by the Orange's best players and lack of NIL funding for the program.

Syracuse fired Autry on Wednesday, ending the former Orange player's three-year tenure as Boeheim's coaching successor. The Orange went 15-17 this season and failed to reach the NCAA tournament under Autry.

Boeheim acknowledged that «the head coach is responsible» for results, but added that player performance was a huge factor in Syracuse's struggles this season under Autry.

«I think he's a good coach,» Boeheim said Wednesday on the ACC Network. «I think he got in a situation where his best players just didn't play the way they needed to play, and it cost him his job.»

Boeheim echoed those sentiments in a separate interview Wednesday with Cuse Sports Talk, saying Autry was «let down» by his star players.

«The one thing with Adrian this year — he's not going to say this, and people will think I shouldn't say it — his two best players had bad years,» Boeheim told Cuse Sports Talk.

«They had bad years on offense. They had bad years on defense. The best two players have to have great years. That didn't happen.… He got let down by those guys, I think. I think they would say the same thing. I think they'd say, 'Yeah, we didn't play well.'»

Boeheim did not identify which players he was referring to in either interview. Syracuse's two leading returning scorers from last season — J.J. Starling and Donnie Freeman — both had disappointing seasons in 2025-26.

Starling, a senior guard who scored a team-high 17.8 points per game last season, averaged just 10.9 points per game this season. Freeman, a 6-foot-9 sophomore, saw his scoring average