SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The exhibition results will disappear from the record book once Syracuse tips off its 2026-27 season on Nov. 2, but Gerry McNamara’s evaluation of his point guards is already taking shape.
After three preseason games, the contrast between Garwey Dual and Ryan Moesch is hard to miss. Moesch, the freshman from Chittenango, has earned the louder praise. Dual, the senior and opening-day starter, is still trying to turn flashes into something steadier.
Moesch has put up 24 points across the three exhibitions, hitting 7 of 25 shots overall and 4 of 13 from beyond the arc. He’s also handed out 16 assists against six turnovers. Dual has totaled 14 points on 6 of 11 shooting, including 1 of 5 from 3-point range, with two assists and three turnovers.
After Syracuse’s 71-58 win over Niagara on Saturday, McNamara sounded convinced that Moesch has been a force off the bench.
“Ryan Moesch has been really positive through these exhibitions,” McNamara said. “Every game that we play, he’s come in and changed the game. ... So he’s been really good, been a bright spot.”
Dual’s case is more complicated. He missed a significant stretch of summer and early preseason practice while recovering from a dislocated collarbone, and McNamara acknowledged that the layoff has mattered. At the same time, he has not hidden his expectation that Dual do more in the lead-guard role.
McNamara was asked Saturday how much of Dual’s uneven play comes back to that time away and how much is tied to his performance. The answer, he said, was somewhere in the middle.
“we’re right in between.”
“I like a lot of the things he’s doing. He’s terrific on the ball (as a defender).
I think it’s pretty clear how hard he works on the basketball,” McNamara said. “There are stretches where I feel really good with what he’s doing at the point and then he makes a play like he did at the end of the half.
“So I’m trying to meet him halfway.”
McNamara has made no secret of what he wants from Dual. He likes the size, the length, the defense and the rebounding. But the numbers through three games have been modest: two assists, three turnovers.
“I want him to control the tempo, I want him to do the same thing he does on defense. I want him to get in the paint and make the right read,” McNamara said.
“I want him to be able to make the open 3, which he did to start the game. I want him to do everything.”
Dual did not talk to reporters after the game.
Moesch, meanwhile, is making the most of his minutes. The shooting has not been clean - his percentages show that - but he delivered two key baskets late against Niagara to help Syracuse create some separation from a stubborn opponent. His assist-to-turnover ratio has also stood out, especially in the game against UConn, when he finished with five assists and one turnover in 30 minutes.
“I think I’m getting more comfortable every game,” Moesch said.
He also said Dual has helped him since both arrived on campus, pointing to Dual’s defense as a useful teaching tool for a young guard learning how college backcourts operate.
Gavin Doty offered a similar read on Dual’s upside, saying what’s been shown in games is not the full picture.
“Obviously, Garwey has not played fully to his potential yet. And like I see him every day in practice and I know what he’s capable of,” Doty said.
“He’s very, very talented. Defensively, he’s like the hardest guard to score on in the country.
And offensively, he’s got a swagger to his game. He can get downhill, create for others.
He’s just getting comfortable right now.”
McNamara has been easing Dual back into the rotation, with an eye on keeping the roster as healthy as possible before the games count. Dual played 20 minutes Saturday, his highest total in an exhibition.
Even so, the clearest early takeaway is that Syracuse’s point guard situation is still a work in progress - and McNamara is demanding more from both of the players at the center of it.
“I mean, it’s the point guard’s job to control the offense,” Moesch said. “Our offense hasn’t been too good.
So I feel like that kind of goes to the point guards. He just expects us to run our offense the right way.”
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