Summer Slam 2026, supporting Syracuse basketball NIL: 'It was electric,' Vinny Lobdell says

Entrepreneur, philanthropist and Syracuse basketball supporter Vinny Lobdell hosted the second-annual Summer Slam last month at his beautiful home in Skaneateles, N.Y.

According to Lobdell and others who attended, including Orange first-year head coach Gerry McNamara, it was a smashing success not just for the money raised, but also for how people from all walks of life in Central New York and beyond came together with one singular goal in mind - to support Syracuse University and SU basketball.

"This event was something like I've never been a part of before," Lobdell told Inside the Loud House in a telephone interview on Wednesday. "Sponsors stepped up a huge way. Syracuse showed up to work with us. It really was an amazing thing."

McNamara and 'Cuse legend Carmelo Anthony, who teamed up to guide Syracuse basketball to the program's only national title in 2003, conducted an on-court conversation. There were a live and a silent auction.

SU sophomore forward Sadiq White Jr. claimed the slam-dunk contest, while freshman wing Mark Morano captured the 3-point shooting contest. Five hundred people attended, including CEOs and others in the corporate community.

Members of the 2003 squad were there, as were players from the current Orange roster. SU chancellor Mike Haynie and 'Cuse athletics director Bryan Blair were on hand, and that was important, Lobdell said.

"Everyone was setting aside politics to rally around Syracuse University," he said, and support SU men's basketball, which is entering a new chapter with McNamara at the helm. Lobdell noted how "it was electric" to see GMac and Melo, more than 23 years after they cut down the nets at the NCAA Tournament, chatting at the 2026 Summer Slam.

Vinny Lobdell thinks that Syracuse basketball is positioned for success in the future.

McNamara did a terrific job turning Siena around over the past two seasons, and now he's tasked with rebuilding an Orange program that has posted consecutive losing campaigns and hasn't made the annual NCAA Tournament since 2021.

A frequent complaint among the SU fan base in recent years is that Syracuse Athletics was behind the times as it relates to name, image and likeness ("NIL") deals. To make matters more complex these days, schools now pay their athletes directly in rev-share, and numerous large-scale issues and legal battles currently cast a confusing, somewhat dark cloud over the college sports landscape.

However, on the Hill, Syracuse has a new chancellor in Haynie and a new athletics director in Blair, who appear to be laser-focused on doing everything possible to ensure that the Orange remains competitive in the Atlantic Coast Conference and around the country as it relates to the financial considerations of roster budgets in big-time sports such as football, men's basketball and women's hoops.

"Today, Syracuse University understands NIL," Lobdell said. "The community, the players and the coaches understand it."

This year's Summer Slam, held on Wednesday, July 22, had a goal of raising $1 million to benefit third-party marketing agency One Orange Alliance and, specifically, to support NIL opportunities for Syracuse basketball players.

Lobdell says that SU is still tallying the final numbers and collecting money, but he added: "I feel very comfortable that we have exceeded our goal."

He stressed, though, that while financial assistance is key - whether it's a $10 donation or a $10,000 one - it's also vital that people give their time and show up to support 'Cuse sports teams.

"I think that Syracuse basketball has the money to compete, but we need to continue to create experiences like this," Lobdell says, adding that Blair and SU Athletics have other exciting things on the horizon. "Buckle up," Lobdell said.

So is a Summer Slam 2027 in the cards? "As long as I can be helpful in any way that makes a difference" for Orange sports teams and the greater community, "I'm all for it," he said. Lobdell added, however, that a Summer Slam for next year isn't officially on the books.

He credits McNamara for already having gone a long way toward building a dynamic culture at Syracuse basketball where discipline, grit and toughness are key hallmarks of his ideology, and that was exemplified when Siena, this past spring, nearly shocked top-seeded Duke in the 2026 Big Dance's first round, despite the Saints having a significantly depleted roster.

"People can relate to him," Lobdell said of McNamara. "He's the right fit at the right time. ... I'm super excited about this season's Syracuse basketball roster. These guys will show up and work."

Lobdell is good friends with Anthony. While Melo is obviously supporting the Orange due to his son, Kiyan, being a sophomore guard with the team, Carmelo Anthony is "really engaged and excited" about the program's direction, generally speaking, Lobdell says.

During last month's Summer Slam, raising funds was clearly a critical objective. Yet as Lobdell relayed to me, at the second-annual event, "The energy in the room was - we are back."

McNamara, by the way, had this to say about the 2026 Summer Slam, per a post on X from reporter Rachel Culver: "This is what separates, and what has always separated, Syracuse, I think, from 99.9 percent of the schools out there. Look at this parking lot. It's remarkable the amount of support that this community and this fan base has always given us. The attention to detail. The honoring of the past and the present. Looking forward to the future. What they've done, honoring the national championship team in terms of the aspirations of where we want the program to go. I've been a part of events; I've seen a lot of different things. I've never quite seen something this elaborate. I really haven't."

On Wednesday, I sent an e-mail to a Syracuse Athletics spokesperson, requesting a comment about last month's Summer Slam. That e-mail was not returned.

Regardless, the event, by all accounts, was tremendous. Much respect to Vinny Lobdell and everyone else who was involved in putting the Summer Slam 2026 together.

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