Elijah Hughes will be back with Boeheim's Army this summer.
The 6-foot-6 wing from Beacon, N.Y., who was an All-ACC performer during his tenure with Syracuse basketball, is expected to play for Boeheim's Army in The Basketball Tournament ("TBT"), which this year has a new bracketing format and will increase its winner-take-all prize money to a cool $2 million.
The TBT's X account noted Hughes' addition to the Boeheim's Army 2026 roster in a post on Monday. He played in last summer's TBT, when Boeheim's Army was a No. 1 seed, but it lost in the round of 32. The collection of former Orange standouts and others, one of the most successful teams in the TBT's history, won the annual event back in 2021.
UH OH👀🍊 https://t.co/dgBIaEvVfu
— Boeheim's Army (@BoeheimsArmy) June 8, 2026
In 2026, the TBT will feature 16 teams: Eight alumni teams, like Boeheim's Army, and eight non-alumni squads. Boeheim's Army, in the opening round, will battle a Seton Hall alumni team called Hall In. The squads will conduct a best-of-three series that will start on Tuesday, July 21, in South Orange, N.J., followed by a second encounter on Thursday, July 23, in Syracuse, N.Y.
If necessary, a third contest will take place on Friday, July 24, in Syracuse. The Boeheim's Army games against Hall In, led by former Pirates guard Isaiah Whitehead, will be televised on either FS1 or FS2.
Boeheim's Army has two players, so far, on its summer roster for the upcoming TBT.
Besides Hughes, former Syracuse basketball star shooting guard Buddy Boeheim has committed to suit up for Boeheim's Army this summer.
Hughes played at East Carolina for one season before transferring to the Orange. In the 2019-20 campaign for the 'Cuse, he averaged 36.7 minutes, 19.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest while connecting on 42.6 percent from the field, 34.1 percent from beyond the arc and 81.3 percent from the free-throw line.
For his efforts, as a redshirt junior at SU, Hughes was named the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division I player of the year, and he resided on the All-ACC first team while leading the Atlantic Coast Conference in points per game. Hughes is the last Syracuse basketball player selected in the NBA Draft, as he was picked in the second round at No. 39 overall in 2020 by the New Orleans Pelicans (and then traded to the Utah Jazz).
In the 2025-26 season, Hughes competed for MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, a pro team in Ludwigsburg, Germany. According to Syracuse.com, this past term, he averaged 13.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while making 47.6 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from 3-point land.
In late May, per an Instagram post, word broke that Hughes has moved to Gigantes de Carolina, a pro team that is based in Canóvanas, Puerto Rico.
Add us as a preferred source on Google