In 2010, Adrian Autry packed his things in Blacksburg, Va., and headed to Dayton. Previously an assistant with Virginia Tech, he was on his way to becoming an associate head coach with the Flyers before a job opened up at Syracuse.

Three years later, Autry will make his return to Virginia Tech, still as an assistant coach with the Orange. Things have changed — Seth Greenberg, the head coach he worked under at VT, is now an analyst for ESPN and most of the players he coached have graduated. SU head coach Jim Boeheim doesn’t think Autry can give him any particularly unique insight that the team would otherwise be unable to acquire.

“I don’t think that really makes any difference,” Boeheim said during the Atlantic Coast Conference coaches’ teleconference on Monday.

No. 2 Syracuse has gone about scouting the Hokies like it would any other team. The Orange has watched about 8-10 games and picked up some of VT’s tendencies from the tape and other highlights

“You see what they can do,” Boeheim said. “I don’t think any other knowledge is that effective.”

Autry was at Virginia Tech when forward Jarell Eddie was recruited, but he doesn’t have ties to any other Hokie. He’s been with SU for too long now.

And that’s been just fine for Boeheim. Autry’s the latest in a long line of assistant coaches with ties to the program and he brings enough to the staff that it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t hold any almighty secrets to VT basketball.

“Adrian’s done an unbelievable job here,” Boeheim said. “He’s really been good for us and I really just can’t say enough about what he’s done in terms of bringing his ability to our program.

“But I don’t think you gain any knowledge that you can’t gain from watching teams play and seeing what they do.”

Published on January 6, 2014 at 3:28 pm

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2