Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins calls Gerry McNamara the Mad Hatter, and for good reason.

The senior guard has done a little bit of everything in his career at Syracuse. He’s nailed six three-pointers in the first half of the 2003 NCAA Championship game to help lead SU to a victory over Kansas. He single-handedly beat Brigham Young in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament, scoring 43 points. He’s made and attempted the most three-point shots in Syracuse history and holds an 88.3 free-throw percentage, the highest career mark at SU.

For the past three years, McNamara assembled an impressive basketball rsum. Despite those accomplishments, he’s now thrown into a position he isn’t quite used to. He needs to add another hat to the already extensive pile.

No matter how much attention he received, McNamara could deflect it to high-profile teammates like Carmelo Anthony and Hakim Warrick. Now he’s the main and, some would argue, only option for Syracuse. He’s the only one left in the spotlight he willingly shared with Anthony and Warrick.

Syracuse, and the nation, is looking at McNamara to lead the youthful Orange. He’s the man, and it remains to be seen if McNamara can become the leader his status as SU’s undisputed top player asks him to be.

‘It’s simple,’ forward Terrence Roberts said. ‘Gerry’s going to have the same role he’s had the last two years. He’s going to be one of the main guys. He’s got to come out, got to be the leader, got to be the guy that gets us started. We all know what he can do and we’ll be looking to him to get us going.’

McNamara knows everyone’s watching him. People have been watching him since he was at Bishop Hannan High School in Scranton, Pa., packing the gymnasium on game nights an hour before the starting tip, just to catch a glimpse of the pride of Scranton.

While trying to woo McNamara to Central New York, Hopkins would often attend Bishop Hannan’s games. Every time, there were so many people it’d be a struggle just to get in the door. Those same fans take an armada of buses up Interstate-81 every time McNamara and the Orange take the Carrier Dome court.

But now the attention magnifies exponentially. It’s not just Scranton or Syracuse watching McNamara. It’s the nation. Basketball analysts proclaim he’s one of the best guards playing college basketball, how he’s among the top five shooters in Division I.

That attention started coming his way in his sophomore season, and it forced McNamara to expand his abilities. Opponents knew not to give him the outside shot and plan their defenses so he doesn’t have an opportunity to make a game-altering one.

McNamara had to adapt. He wasn’t seeing open outside shots, so he tried to penetrate. He’d drive in and put up a little right-handed floater that hardly resembled any shot people had seen from McNamara before.

‘Now you look at guys trying to face guard him and beat his ass up every game,’ Hopkins said. ‘It becomes a very difficult thing. I think this guy’s been terrific, arguably the best guard in the country. It’s tough to be Gerry McNamara. Think about it – every game, the whole defense is designed to stop you. Look at what he’s been able to do.’

McNamara has been able to do a lot, but never has he done it alone as the main option. This year, it’s tougher than ever to be Gerry McNamara. More than ever, he’ll have to be the guy to score when the rest of the team slumps. He can’t pull a disappearing act like he did against Vermont in last year’s first round of the NCAA Tournament. SU can’t survive a 1-for-7 shooting performance from 3. He’s the catalyst for the Orange and, for Syracuse’s sake, he can’t have an off game.

But throughout his career, McNamara delivered more often than not when the pressure built. So it isn’t a stretch to think McNamara can respond again, this time shedding his quiet nature to grab hold of a basketball team in need of a leader on the court.

‘He’s the star of the team,’ freshman Eric Devendorf said. ‘He’s the No. 1 option. He’s been here for four years and he’s proven himself to everybody. He’s the biggest thing here. He’s the man. I’m just looking to feed off of what he does.’

If McNamara has his way, his teammates will have plenty to feed off. He’s not looking for an expanded role in taking any more of the load left by Anthony and Warrick’s departures. He doesn’t want to score more or grab more attention.

He wants to work on the aspects that often go unnoticed. He wants to grab more rebounds and make better passes. If anything, he wants his teammates to step into the spotlight so he can step back and just play. He prefers the unassuming role much more.

Work hard and everyone will follow, McNamara says. It’s been said a million times, but McNamara fully believes his actions will make a greater effect than any rousing speech he can concoct. Be a gym rat, produce results and pretty soon you have a team full of gym rats. That’s McNamara’s plan.

‘I’m going to try to lead this team not so much vocally but by example,’ McNamara said. ‘I’m going to work hard and hopefully everyone will follow.

‘I’m not worried about scoring points. I’m more worried about doing the little things to win games.’

It’s not a coincidence the Orange has emulated McNamara. It’s a direct result of playing a brand of basketball people find hard to disagree with. He keeps his mouth shut, plays tough and involves everyone. Win or lose, Syracuse is McNamara’s team.

If the Orange tastes success, it will be McNamara’s doing. He may have direct influence on the success, like hitting another last-second shot to save a game. Or it may be indirect, with someone like Devendorf taking the lead McNamara sets. But either way, McNamara’s fingerprints will be all over this Syracuse team.

‘Gerry is a special player,’ head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘He’s the kind of player that everybody likes because he goes out, plays and gives it everything he’s got every game. I think that’s what people admire and respect about him.’

Published on November 6, 2005 at 12:00 pm