College basketball: With outside reinforcements, Boeheim's Army appears strong

Jul. 23—SYRACUSE — Boeheim's Army added outside reinforcements to their arsenal of former Syracuse University men's basketball stars in hopes of finally capturing the elusive $1 million prize.

The squad of mostly Orange alumni is the No. 3 seed in the Illinois Regional for The Basketball Tournament (TBT) — the eighth annual 64-team, single elimination, winner-take-all pro tourney.

Boeheim's Army will open against No. 14 Forces of Seoul at noon Saturday in the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, Ill., to be televised on ESPN.

The squad named after Hall of Fame SU coach, Jim Boeheim, is back for its seventh shot at the winnings with seven former Orange stars and four newcomers bringing a bevy of experience from beyond the SU circle comprising the roster.

"Jim Boeheim's name is on the front of our jersey, this is always going to be a Syracuse-themed team with the Syracuse DNA, but we wanted to bring in a few guys that we felt could round out the 'Cuse core," said Kevin Belbey, the general manager and founder of Boeheim's Army, and a former SU team manager from 2009-13.

"These guys are very competitive with no ego, and I think that's a tricky thing," he added. "They are competitive and want to do whatever it takes to win, but also realize that it doesn't need to be about them. In this tournament, the winner gets $1 million, and second place gets zero. There is no glory in scoring 25 points a game and losing in the second round, and certainly there's no money in it."

The influx is led by 6-foot-6 small forward D.J. Kennedy, a former St. John's standout who has won four TBT titles as a member of Overseas Elite and is the tournament's all-time leading scorer.

The 31-year-old scored 1,504 career points for the Red Storm and played two seasons in the NBA G-League before playing professionally overseas.

He will be joined on Boeheim's Army by former Overseas Elite teammate, DeAndre Kane, a three-time TBT champion who produced three college seasons at Marshall before finishing at Iowa State. Both players opted to join the SU alumni after Overseas Elite decided against entering again.

"They're known as two of the best players ever in the TBT, but they're also known as the two toughest guys to have played in the tournament," said Shaun Belbey, the assistant general manager and assistant coach who played at SU from 2015-20. "They're going to dive on every 50-50 ball, play until the buzzer sounds on every possession, so those are the guys that we wanted to get."

Boeheim's Army has solidified the point guard position with the additions of Boston College alum Tyrese Rice and Keifer Sykes, who played college basketball at Wisconsin-Green Bay.

The 34-year-old Rice garnered All-Atlantic Coast Conference first and second team honors for the Eagles before shifting overseas to win the Most Valuable Player award for the EuroCup and FIBA Champions League. Sykes was the 2013-14 Horizon League Player of the Year who has since shined internationally.

The final outsider looking to provide the edge for Boeheim's Army is new head coach, Jeremy Pope, an assistant coach for the Portland Pilots.

Pope possesses a familiarity with SU's 2-3 zone after working as a graduate assistant at Washington under Mike Hopkins, the former longtime Boeheim assistant. He also has ties to the Orange from working extensively with former SU point guard Tyler Ennis as a rising prep star.

"He's young and energetic," said former SU star, Eric Devendorf, back for his seventh year with Boeheim's Army. "He wants to win, he's prepared, he's going to do everything that it takes to be ready and to win games in this tournament. He's new to it, but we're familiar with him."

Nearly two-thirds of the Boeheim's Army roster will still feature former beloved SU players.

Devendorf, Malachi Richardson, C.J. Fair, and Andrew White III will fill out a deep group of perimeter options while Tyler Lydon, Chris McCullough, and Pascal Chukwu will anchor the frontcourt.

Devendorf is the only member to have competed every year for Boeheim's Army, playing in every game thus far and rising to No. 4 on the TBT's all-time scoring list.

"Each year (Devendorf) gets a little more gray in his beard and says to me: 'I'm willing to take a step back, I don't need to start, it's not about me,'" Kevin Belbey said. "Then we show up to practice and he's the best player on the floor. He's still playing at an incredibly high level, so the skills are still there, but it's even more about the intangibles that he brings off the floor as our leader and our captain."