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

If a player wants to join Boeheim’s Army, there are a few simple steps they must follow to make it official:

"“It’s more than just saying you’ll play and you’re good. Once we get some sort of verbal agreement with a player he has to send in a verification video. For example, I can say that LeBron James is coming, but that’s just talking, it’s not real/official until the player does the video. While anyone can drop out at any time for the reasons we talked about before (injury or getting a guaranteed contract from someone else), it puts their name out there too and puts some skin in the game. So once the verification video comes in, now it’s public, your name/word is behind it and there’s some ownership and suddenly it’s no longer talk.”"

So to reiterate, the first step is a player committing. The second step is a player submitting a verification video.

What’s a verification video?

It’s super easy to do: you set up a quick bio, profile, and upload the video to TBT site and then we’re off to the races. When a player commits he has to make a video saying why he’s playing in the tournament (TBT uses it for marketing).

For example, “Hey I’m Paul Esden, I’m playing in Boeheim’s Army and I’m trying to win $2 million to prove I’m one of the best basketball players on the planet.”

Right now Boeheim’s Army has eight players on the roster (with verification videos submitted):

• Brandon Triche
• John Gillon
• Eric Devendorf
• Jordan Crawford
• Chris McCullough
• Arinze Onuaku
• Hakim Warrick
• Darryl ‘Mookie’ Watkins

Kevin Belbey has said previously that he’s “comfortable” with this group, but the team could look to add another player.

A few weeks ago Boeheim’s Army called upon its’ fans to help them secure “1,000 fan votes” so they’ll have the ability to add another player after the June deadline. Without the fan votes, Boeheim’s Army would’ve had to pay a penalty, thanks to the support of Orange Nation, they won’t have to.

So who will that player be?

"“There’s no one right now that has the spot, that might’ve been a miscommunication on my part and I apologize for that. Right now we don’t have someone committed, but we’re actively talking to people. So we may add at least one more guy and if something happens with the roster then, of course, we’ll be adding more. I think nine is a sweet spot for the roster.”"

Boeheim’s Army can add a player as late as 72 hours before tip. That’s a rule general manager Kevin Belbey plans on maximizing:

"“If we add one more, we’re looking for a wingman, shooter/scorer. The first part of it is understanding the available pool of talent, who is out there and start some conversations. So we’re always looking to improve the team, but the other reason for this rule being necessary is something we talked about earlier: injuries can still happen, guys can sign guaranteed deals elsewhere and leave, so we have to be prepared for everything. We had this situation a few years ago when we suffered an injury maybe a week out and we snagged John Gillon late. We have to take advantage of every rule that is in place. So if TBT has the 72-hour rule, every year we’re going to try and maximize it as long as it makes sense for the team. We won’t just add someone just to add someone, but it’s nice to have the option.”"

The Basketball Tournament will come to Syracuse for the first time in history from July 26 through July 28. Boeheim’s Army will host the Syracuse regional from Onondaga Community College, for ticket information click here.