It starts tonight for Boeheim’s Army.
The Syracuse-based squad opens The Basketball Tournament against Hall In at Walsh Gymnasium, with a sold-out crowd set for 7 p.m. and FS1 carrying the game. The prize at the end of the road is the same one that drives every TBT run: $2 million for the champion on Aug.
- Boeheim’s Army has already done it once, winning the tournament in 2021.
This year’s group arrives with a familiar face and a few new wrinkles. Shaun Belbey, the team’s GM, added another coach over the weekend and on Monday activated Chris McCullough from the reserve list, a new TBT wrinkle this summer.
McCullough, part of the 2021 title team, had been playing in Puerto Rico until very recently. He is back in the United States, but Belbey said his availability for tonight is still to be determined.
Belbey has built his staff with an NBA-style structure in mind. Thomas Bridges is the head coach, with Ben Resner, Pete Corasaniti and Belbey serving as assistants.
Bridges will handle the offense, while Resner takes the defense. Corasaniti will help both sides and keep track of substitutions.
Bridges comes in after serving as an assistant with the G League Long Island Nets. Resner spent 10 years in various G League roles, including as a G League defensive coordinator, before joining Made Hoops earlier this year. Belbey said the group has already spent time on film and on tendencies, even with only one practice and one shootaround/walk-through before Tuesday’s game.
“I’m not worried at all just because I know the level of coaches that I brought in,” Belbey said. “They’re prepared.
They already have things and film they’re going to show. They already have notes on all our guys and their strengths and weaknesses.
They’ve been preparing like we’re playing Game 7 of the NBA Finals.”
The roster brings plenty of shooting. Buddy Boeheim is back for a second straight summer, and Cole Swider is making his TBT debut.
Elijah Hughes, Wes Johnson and Eric Devendorf also give the team scoring punch from deep. Belbey added that Tyson Walker and Ty Nichols can shoot it, too.
In past tournaments, Boeheim’s Army has had trouble sustaining its 3-point production. In last summer’s loss to We Are D3, the team went 10-for-31 from beyond the arc. Belbey thinks this group has more answers on the perimeter.
“Tyson Walker and Ty Nichols are both really good shooters as well,” Belbey said. “So we have five or six guys that can really step out from 3 and knock down shots. I think that’s going to give us a big advantage.”
Inside, Belbey is looking for JaCorey Williams and Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu to protect the rim and give the team some presence around the basket. Jimmy Boeheim, he said, can do a little bit of everything.
Hall In has its own headliner in Isaiah Whitehead. The former Seton Hall standout has been a prolific scorer in college and in his professional career.
Belbey saw him last summer while scouting Stars of Storrs, the Connecticut alumni team, in Syracuse. Whitehead averaged 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists per game in that run.
“He’s a really good player,” Belbey said. “He’s played in the NBA, played overseas at a high level.
So, he’s definitely going to be someone that we’re going to focus on and try to stop. But, their whole roster is pretty solid.”
Hall In also brings size, with 6-foot-10 Darnell Brodie and 7-foot-2 Romaro Gill giving it a big front line. KC Ndefo is listed at 6-foot-5, but Belbey pointed out that he is a strong shot-blocker.
Unlike previous years, Boeheim’s Army did not gather in Syracuse for a couple of days of practice and scrimmaging against the current Syracuse team. Buddy Boeheim and Akobundu-Ehiogu were in the NBA Summer League, Walker had a weekend commitment, and the team never found a window when everyone could be together.
Belbey also said the decision to skip the Syracuse stop helped keep costs down and save time.
“It’s also very costly paying for hotels up here and then getting guys and traveling them down to New Jersey,” Belbey said. “To keep the cost down and to save everybody time and effort, we’re just going to meet in New Jersey.”
The team met Monday night before heading to the gym, and it is scheduled for two hours of court time today before tipoff.
If Boeheim’s Army gets through Hall In, it will face the winner of the Kentucky-Louisville alumni matchup on July 26. The path to the title still requires five wins, with the $2 million prize waiting at the end.
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