Now validated, Brendan Coyle returns to Siena as conduit to new era
Siena’s fifth-year player is a pillar of three key categories for Nevada Smith’s first year at the helm
LOUDONVILLE, NY - MARCH 15: Player Brendan Coyle is interviewed after the Siena men's basketball team found out they will be facing No. 1 overall seed Duke in the first round in Greenville, S. C.
during a public watch party at the UHY Center for the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday, March 15, 2026 in Loudonville, N. Y. (Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union via Getty Images) 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. 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.
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