I know, I didn't recognize him either. I saw some guy ride in on a motorcycle wearing eyeglasses and wondered to myself...who is this mild-mannered human?
Then it dawned on me. This is no mild-mannered man. This was something more. I couldn't quite put my finger on it but as soon as he took the floor and starting launching three's, it hit me. Mild-mannered Syracuse basketball graduate manager is actually mortal enemy of The Hoya and legendary crime fighter G-Mac in disguise.
McNamara is officially back as a member of the staff, a position that he seemed destined to take over even during his playing days. Gerry's pro career didn't exactly turn out the way he and everyone else hoped, thanks in part to nagging injuries. However he's happy to have made the tough decision to finally call it a career and start down the coaching path:
"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."
..."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."
Syracuse fans are always happy to see him and he was arguably the main attraction during Midnight Madness last Friday. Here's some video of Gerry in action in case you missed it. Looks like even with the disguise on, G-Mac's still got it (Then again, so does John Wallace).