Syracuse Basketball: A look back at past Boeheim’s Army performances in TBT
By Josh Peelman
Boeheim’s Army- 2016
In 2016, Boeheim’s Army entered The Basketball Tournament again. GM Kevin Belbey remade the roster to try and mold a team that would be much more balanced and full of SU greats.
First off, he brought in former Syracuse basketball great Ryan Blackwell to coach. Next, he brought back captain Eric Devendorf, and former members Hakim Warrick, Baye Moussa Keita, Terrence Roberts, and Willie Deane to provide stability. He then proceeded to fill in the roster with Darryl Watkins, Brandon Triche, Rick Jackson, and CJ Fair to provide additional depth.
The results were a mixed bag. The team was better all-around from a talent perspective, but other teams had gotten better as well and brought in more talent to compete for $2 million.
Boeheim’s Army got things rolling with another monster first game showing, defeating Basketball City NYC 87-59. In their second game against the North Broad Street Bullies (mostly Temple alums), it was tight-game throughout, with Boeheim’s Army only winning after fighting off a late surge to emerge victorious, 86-82, and advance to the Super 16.
Unfortunately, after advancing to their second straight Super 16, Boeheim’s Army would fall against better competition in The Untouchables. The Untouchables was a team of former Pitt alumni, according to ESPN, led by Gilbert Brown, Gary McGhee, Levance Fields, Brad Wanamaker, and Antonio Graves, just to name a few.
The game would also be close throughout, like the game before, but the Orange alumni team would fall just short this time, 91-84. However, after playing really well and going this deep in The Basketball Tournament two years in a row, Boeheim’s Army would come back in 2017, and this time it was here to stay and prove it was one of the greatest teams in the field.