Ryan Blackwell to keep coaching Boeheim’s Army as team eyes deep run
By Neil Adler
Former Syracuse basketball player Ryan Blackwell will remain at the helm of Boeheim’s Army.
Former Syracuse basketball star Ryan Blackwell will coach Boeheim’s Army for the fifth-consecutive term in the $2 million, winner-take-all The Basketball Tournament (“TBT”), and this summer the Orange-based crew has an excellent shot at capturing the grand prize.
Since 2016, Blackwell has roamed the sidelines for Boeheim’s Army, guiding the squad on several extensive journeys in the TBT, but it has yet to cut down the nets.
Blackwell, the current head coach at Liverpool High School in nearby Liverpool, N.Y., has worked hand in hand with Boeheim’s Army general manager Kevin Belbey for multiple years now, and they are building a stacked roster for this iteration of the TBT.
Mike Waters of Syracuse.com first reported the news on Blackwell coming back to Boeheim’s Army, which the team then confirmed in a tweet.
With Ryan Blackwell as the Boeheim’s Army coach and a loaded line-up, this group can soar.
To date, five former ‘Cuse players – all talented, versatile and proficient from the perimeter – have signed on for Boeheim’s Army. They are three veterans in forward Demetris Nichols as well as combo guards Brandon Triche and Eric Devendorf.
Two Boeheim’s Army newbies, wing Malachi Richardson and power forward Tyler Lydon, have also committed to competing. Richardson and Lydon are both former NBA first-round draft picks as well as key members of Syracuse’s surprising odyssey to the Final Four in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
We’re pumped to have Ryan Blackwell back coaching us again — Ryan has been a crucial piece of our team since 2016 and we look forward to have him leading us to the promised land this summer! https://t.co/gd0phQIPjX
— Boeheim's Army (@BoeheimsArmy) May 20, 2020
On returning to Boeheim’s Army again, Blackwell told Waters, “It’s exciting. It’s a chance to get out and go a little bit in the summer. It’s a chance to get around the Syracuse fraternity, so to speak. It’s a fun, exciting experience.”
Boeheim’s Army is suiting up in the TBT, assuming it can move forward despite the novel coronavirus pandemic, for the sixth-straight summer.
The tourney is scheduled to occur from late July through early August, and it will feature match-ups at Onondaga Community College from July 31 to Aug. 2 at the SRC Arena.