Inside the Loud House
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Syracuse Basketball: BTS on building the Boeheim’s Army roster

By Paul A. Esden Jr.

SYRACUSE, NY - NOVEMBER 16: Chris McCullough #5 of the Syracuse Orange drives to the basket against the Hampton Pirates on November 16, 2014 at The Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. Syracuse wins 65-47 over Hampton. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
SYRACUSE, NY - NOVEMBER 16: Chris McCullough #5 of the Syracuse Orange drives to the basket against the Hampton Pirates on November 16, 2014 at The Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. Syracuse wins 65-47 over Hampton. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /
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A lot of logistics are involved in putting this full roster together. You may be surprised to hear what Kevin thinks is the hardest challenge any given year:

"“A guy can commit to me and go through the whole process in October, January, February, March or whatever and that’s still a very long time away from when we kick off in late July. It’s hard for these guys to know what they’ll be doing that far in advance. Some guys might get hurt, or get opportunities in the NBA or overseas. So even if guys commit early, we all know that it isn’t 100 percent. This is a winner take all tournament, so there’s no guaranteed money in this thing. The other challenge is guys may just be burnt out. Especially if you had been playing professionally in the NBA or in a different league, the summer is your off time to spend with your family. A lot of the guys may not want to sacrifice the weekends”"

But even if you get a squad of 8-11 players together, there’s another challenge that may or may not seem obvious: ego managing.

"“All of these guys are talented and want to win and are super competitive. But I think all of these guys understand that there’s $2 million on the line here. As much as each guy probably wants to be the main reason we’re winning and dropping 20 a night, they understand the big picture. Arinze Onuaku is a great example, I think it was last year deep in the tournament our coaching staff decided we wanted to play some small ball so Arinze sat and never complained once. No one is going to play perfectly through six games, we’re going to need all the guys on this roster to have moments and step up when called upon. So whether it’s me or Ryan or the players, we do a really nice job of being transparent with how a guy is expected to be used and what role they’ll have, etc.”"

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