Now validated, Brendan Coyle returns to Siena as conduit to new era

Leading up to the 2026 MAAC Tournament in Atlantic City, Brendan Coyle was struggling. The sharpshooter who made 94 threes at a 39% clip in his junior season had dipped below 30% as a senior. When he walked on to play for Carm Maciariello in 2022-23, and then redshirted, he probably didn’t envision his career unfolding the way it did.

He told Mid-Major Madness in March that he “didn’t know” what to expect from his career. He was thrust into a key bench role on a putrid 4-28 team that got Maciariello fired, but then-new coach Gerry McNamara believed in his shooting enough to keep him and further expand his role.

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Coyle, a Niskayuna native who grew up going to Siena games, he was ready to end the Saints’ 16-year NCAA Tournament drought that he watched from the MVP Arena stands. And he helped do just that. He made eight threes in three games and grabbed 8.6 boards per game as Siena won the MAAC Tournament.

“Absolutely (it felt like finishing unfinished business from the guys I watched growing up),” Coyle told Mid-Major Madness after the MAAC Championship win over Merrimack in Atlantic City. “Coming through, watching a lot of talented guys. It’s the first one in 16 years, so it’s amazing to be able to do it with this group.”

Now, with his hometown career validated, he isn’t done yet. He’s coming back for year five to be the conduit to the next era of Saints’ basketball after McNamara left to take over at Syracuse. Siena basketball announced that he, along with Owen Schlager, Isaiah Henderson, and Reid Ducharme will return. But of those four, Coyle is the only one who played more than 30% of the minutes this season.

And just as he was the bridge from the Albany community — as a local kid — to the Saints starting lineup under McNamara, he’ll be the bridge from the champions to the new vision that head coach Nevada Smith has for the program.

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Coyle told Mid-Major Madness in March that he would joke with a Siena manager about…

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Publish date : 2026-04-21 00:10:00

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