Syracuse Basketball: Will Rayman adds rebounding to Boeheim’s Army
By Neil Adler
Boeheim’s Army, the crew of former Syracuse basketball stars playing in this summer’s TBT, has lost Tyler Lydon but added Colgate’s Will Rayman.
Boeheim’s Army is no longer a team made up solely of former Syracuse basketball players, as the crew hoping to win $1 million in about two weeks now includes Will Rayman, one of the best-ever to suit up for Colgate. That’s the good news.
The disappointing news surfacing on Wednesday, however, as first reported by Donna Ditota of Syracuse.com, is that power forward Tyler Lydon, a former NBA Draft first-round pick, wouldn’t play in this summer’s The Basketball Tournament (“TBT”) due to a recently sustained injury.
The 2020 TBT would have represented Lydon’s debut in the annual summer event. This is a bummer for him and Boeheim’s Army, and we wish him a speedy recovery.
Ditota also first reported on Boeheim’s Army bringing Rayman on board. Boeheim’s Army confirmed both developments via its Twitter page.
https://twitter.com/BoeheimsArmy/status/1278387734101602304
While replacing the versatility that Lydon possesses is a huge challenge, adding Rayman to Boeheim’s Army this late in the game is tremendous.
Rayman wrapped up his stellar tenure at Colgate this past spring. The 6-foot-9 forward, who hails from New York, N.Y., averaged 13.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest, while connecting on 44 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point land, and 74 percent from the charity stripe, according to his bio on the Colgate athletics department Web site.
His bio says that Rayman is the only player in team history to record 1,800 points and 900 rebounds. He was the 2020 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year and also on the All-Patriot League first squad.
Prior to attending Colgate in Hamilton, N.Y., which is about an hour away from the Hill, Rayman went to the Millbrook School, a prep school in Millbrook, N.Y.
His rebounding skills and 3-point shooting prowess will certainly come in handy with Lydon unable to play. Besides Rayman, the Boeheim’s Army roster entails small forward Andrew White III, power forward Donte Greene, wing Malachi Richardson, center Chris McCullough, combo guard Eric Devendorf, combo guard Brandon Triche, point guard John Gillon, and forward Demetris Nichols.
The 2020 TBT, whose champion earns $1 million, will take place from July 4-14 under quarantine at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Boeheim’s Army is the No. 3 seed in the 24-team field and one of the tourney’s favorites to cut down the nets.
Boeheim’s Army will first compete at 4 pm on Tuesday, July 7, with ESPN providing television coverage. This group will square off versus the winner of No. 14 seed Heartfire against No. 19 seed Men of Mackey.