Siena holds "A Night With Jim Boeheim and Gerry McNamara"

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- When you bring in a guy like Gerry McNamara, you're not just getting a big name, or someone who had a brilliant playing career. You're also getting someone with an invaluable network, built during his time as a player and coach at Syracuse University.

Some of the those connections will, in turn, help McNamara grow the Siena men's basketball program. And few may be more influential than former SU head coach Jim Boeheim.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer took part in "From Syracuse to Siena: A Night With Jim Boeheim and Gerry McNamara" - an event put on by Siena Wednesday night at The Desmond Hotel to raise money for the Siena Men's Basketball Excellence Fund and "Saints March On," the school's Name, Image and Likeness Collective.

Boeheim and McNamara met with attendees and took part in a panel discussion that also included longtime NCAA official John Cahill, of Albany.

Boeheim also spent the afternoon at Siena's practice, and by the sounds of it, he likes what he's seeing from the Saints.

"You never know how a team's gonna go, but I think he's got a good group," said Boeheim. "I think they have the potential to be a good...really good team. He'll get the most out of 'em. He's a competitive guy, and his players will compete. That's all you can ask for when you get into coaching. It's never easy; you're gonna have ups and downs. And you're never gonna please everybody. That's just what coaching's all about. You try to get it to be the best you can, and...I think he'll do that."

And it's a special thing for McNamara to still have his old head coach in his corner; supporting he and his program.

"24 years having a relationship with the man that I chose to play for as an 18-year-old - he's watching my practice and helping me - I'm so incredibly blessed and grateful to have him in my life," said McNamara. "He's meant the world to me. He got me into this. He's the one that eased me into coaching, and I'm just really blessed to have him here."

And a reminder that Siena's season opener is less than four weeks away: Nov. 4 at home against Brown.