Syracuse Basketball: A look back at past Boeheim’s Army performances in TBT

Boeheim’s Army- 2015

The Inaugural Boeheim’s Army season was 2015, the second year of The Basketball Tournament. At that time, the fan base was still relatively low, especially since the first few rounds you had to stream on The Basketball Tournament’s website. The later rounds were then televised on ESPN’s family of Networks.

The Syracuse alumni team, as expected, was hard to piece together, but GM Kevin Belbey and Coach Lawrence Moten did their best to construct a competitive squad. Their roster that year looked like this:

• Eric Devendorf
• Hakim Warrick
• Demetris Nichols
• Baye Moussa Keita
• Terrence Roberts
• Mookie Jones
• Olu Famutimi
• Willie Deane

Though it was not a completely Orange squad with Olu Famutimi (Arkansas Alum) and Willie Deane (Boston College/Purdue Alum) the Orange alumni team had a good mixture of talent and size. Like other Syracuse basketball squads under Jim Boeheim, they played mostly 2-3 zone defense. That first year they beat four teams.

After a first-round bye due to their No. 1 Seed in The Northeast Region, Boeheim’s Army literally destroyed the NYC Superstars 91-73 in the second round, according to Syracuse.com. In their next game against the Liberty Ballers (Villanova and Siena alumni), they had a much harder time but still won 78-72, according to Nunesmagician.com. The third game is where things got interesting and immediately made Boeheim’s Army and captain Eric Devendorf a household name in TBT.

Against 20th and Olney (La Salle Alumni team), Boeheim’s Army really struggled. It was a chippy, hard-fought affair. The game went into overtime, but not before Devendorf got into a scrum with Steven Smith on the other team. Since it was their second altercation of the game both were ejected, according to the Daily Orange. Soon after the scrum, the Orange alumni team would lose their lead and the game would go into overtime. Though Boeheim’s Army won 92-91 and advanced to the Great Eight, it was a game that made you wonder just how much grit and talent it was going to take to win this tournament.

In the Great Eight of The Basketball Tournament, Boeheim’s Army finally met its match in City of Gods. Chock full of former NBA players with size, the Orange alumni team struggled to match up. They would fall just barely 80-76. Though the result was disappointing after such a deep run, a Great Eight finish in their first year only made the team hungrier to come back and give it another go in 2016.