After a disappointing early exit last year, Boeheim’s Army, the Syracuse basketball alumni team, returns to action in just over a month for the 9th time. The CNY squad won the 2021 tournament and hopes for a return to glory this year.
The 2023 edition of Boeheim’s Army features seven former SU players. Tyus Battle, who played in the 315 from 2016-19, headlines the new players to the roster alongside returner Jimmy Boeheim who played for the Orange in the 2021-22 season. Another key returner to the team is five-year NBA vet Chris McCullough who sat out last year’s tournament after winning it all in 2021.
The other four former ‘Cuse players on the roster are, Andrew White III, BJ Johnson, Paschal Chukwu, and Rakeem Christmas. In addition, GMs Kevin and Shaun Belbey have invested in a number of other players not related to Syracuse. DeAndre Kane, a four-time TBT champion who won the 2021 title with Boeheim’s Army, is back competing in Orange.
Jamil Wilson, who has competed in every TBT since 2017 and won the 2020 title with the Marquette alumni team, is the most recent addition to this year’s edition of Boeheim’s Army.
Ryan Blackwell, an assistant on last year’s team has been named the head coach for this year. Blackwell is currently the head coach at Liverpool High School. The former four-year player at Syracuse spent time coaching in Japan before returning to the 315 in 2014.
Syracuse has been selected as a host city for this year’s 64-team tournament. This marks the fourth year TBT has come to CNY. For the first time, the event will be hosted at Upstate Medical University Arena, home to the Syracuse Crunch. In past years the games were played at the smaller Onondaga Community College Arena. TBT gets underway on July 21st with the Syracuse Regional starting on July 24th.
This Wednesday, June 21st, the full bracket will be released during a selection show at 12 p.m. on YouTube.
