Siena basketball's Gerry McNamara encouraged by roster progress as team holds summer workouts

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- It's been a busy offseason for Siena basketball and first-year head coach Gerry McNamara, who has relentlessly hit the recruiting trail since he took over the job in late March. With the Saints now into their summer workouts, the team held a lift session open to media Wednesday, offering a glimpse of the new-look squad.

The full roster has yet to be finalized, but Siena has already announced eight new additions, including two true freshmen and six transfers.

The transfer class is highlighted by former University at Albany guard and Albany Academy product Marcus Jackson. McNamara also raved about JUCO transfer Major Freeman from Spartanburg Methodist.

The Saints return five players from last year's squad - four of which were freshmen. Their most experienced returner is Niskayuna native Brendan Coyle.

There's still a lot of familiarizing and meshing the team has to do with all the new faces, and even more on the way. But McNamara is encouraged by what he's seen so far, namely the character of this group.

"The one thing I asked every one of these guys in my recruitment process of them - whether they stayed, or whether it was a new guy that we recruited - I asked for their maturity," said McNamara. "And that's what I've gotten since the moment they've got here. They show up every day ready to work. When you get a group that really, really wants to work and is coachable...it's just so nice to deal with. Some days are frustrating because you feel like you didn't have your best practice. But I've left every day content in terms of, like, I'm getting their best effort. It's my job to get their best practice, so I'm never going to be satisfied. But I'm really, really happy in terms of the effort and the focus that this group has brought every day."

And the players seem to have embraced McNamara's coaching style.

"I love it. I kind of feel like me and him are like two in the same," said Jackson. "I think he's fiery. But he has a great way of accessing his players. I think he makes you want to listen. He makes you want to play for him. And I think that's very, very important as a coach. If you can get your players to play for you, you can be very successful."

"He's a relationship guy, and he's built great relationships with all of us," added Coyle. "And, you know, he's a national champion, so he knows what it takes to get us there. And we're looking forward to it."

Along with Coyle, the four freshmen from last year that elected to return are Bralyn Smith, Mosi Clayton, Michael Ojo and Kyle Winters.

A full list of the eight roster additions can be found below:

2024-25 Siena Men's Basketball Official Roster Additions (To Date)
Name                     Cl.*         Pos.        Ht.           Wt.          Hometown/High School/Last School
Myles Wilmoth     Gr.          F             6-9          215         Chestnut Ridge, NY/St. Andrew's (RI)/Hofstra
Peter Carey          R-So.      C             6-11        205         Sunderland, MA/Northfield Mount Hermon/Syracuse
Devin Brafford      Fr.           C             7-1          205         Waynesville, NC/PHHoenix Prep (AZ)
Marcus Jackson   Jr.            G             6-2          180         Amsterdam, NY/Cushing Academy (MA)/UAlbany
Tajae Jones          Fr.           F             6-8          205         Waterbury, CT/Long Island Lutheran (NY)
Major Freeman    Jr.            G             6-3          180         Atlanta, GA/Archer/Spartanburg Methodist JC
Reid Ducharme    R-Fr.       G             6-7          200         Milton, MA/Brewster Academy (NH)/Xavier
Justice Shoats      Jr.            G             5-11        175         Wilkes-Barre, PA/Holy Redeemer/Lock Haven