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Passionate Orange alumni stick to roots on million-dollar journey

07/22/2015, 10:45pm EDT

By Jeff Griffith

Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21)
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Syracuse, one of the more decorated programs in Division I hoops, is known for certain defining factors.

Whether it’s the vaunted Jim Boeheim 2-3 zone, the emphasis on highlighter-bright orange, or a storied history of exciting physical battles with teams like Georgetown, Connecticut, and Villanova, Syracuse has always played its own unique brand of basketball--one that most hoops fans either love or hate.

Another aspect that has developed a love/hate relationship between college basketball fans and the Orange? Syracuse fans are loud.

On numerous occasions, the Orange’s fan base has been known to pack upwards of 34,000 people into their Carrier Dome, making it one of the loudest and most energetic places to play in college sports.

That same passion and love for the game that has defined Syracuse basketball and its fans as some of the best in the game showed up in full force at The Basketball Tournament, where a team of Syracuse basketball alumni--named “Boeheim’s Army,” after the Syracuse coach of 39 years--took the floor in front of a raucous crowd at Philadelphia University on Sunday with the hopes of eventually scoring a million-dollar check on August 2nd.

Their passion and will to win now has the ‘Cuse alums advancing to Chicago as one of the last seventeen teams remaining, on the wings of a thrilling 92-91 overtime victory against 20th & Olney, a team of recent La Salle players.

“That was a tough one,” said Boeheim’s Army coach Lawrence Moten. “I told the guys, it’s not going to be easy, and we’re going to have to earn it.”

The high energy came out most prevalently in Eric Devendorf, a former ‘Cuse guard known for his “bad boy” mentality on the court, who got ejected after a courtside scuffle with 20th & Olney’s Steven Smith during the overtime period.

“It got a little heated in the moment,” Moten said. “When you play games like that, there’s going to be a little tension, but the key is to stay focused like we did at the end, and it came through.”

“We wouldn’t want [Eric] to be any other way,” he added.

The player who remained most steady through all of the insanity for the Orange alumni team following the scrum was the team’s youngest, Baye Moussa Keita, a 6-foot-10 center who finished his collegiate career with Syracuse in 2013.

Down 91-90 with 21 seconds remaining, Keita rejected the shot of 20th & Olney’s Rodney Green, allowing teammate Olu Famutimi--who played his college ball at Arkansas, not Syracuse--to lead the fast break and earn a trip to the line for the game-winning foul shots.

“I think it was all just timing,” said Keita. “I saw him go up and I just waited. I went up and he put the ball into my hand.”

On the ensuing 20th & Olney possession, it was Keita who came up big in the clutch once again, defending Tyreek Duren, a quick, elusive guard, and forcing a bad turnover to win the game.

After all the dust settled from the crazy eruption of excitement, Boeheim’s Army recognized that the hardest and most important part of this tournament was yet to come.

“We’re on our way to Chi-town baby,” said Moten. “We’re gonna get some rest, get off our feet, I’m going to get on that treadmill, because you never know, you always have to be ready.”

Moten added that the team will likely have Donte Greene and Philadelphia native Rick Jackson--who both missed the regional action in Philadelphia--for the upcoming weekend in Chicago.

Who they’ll be meeting upon arrival in Chicago adds yet another interesting chapter to the potential million-dollar run.

The Liberty Ballers, who defeated DMV’s Finest in the first game of third-round action on Sunday, are comprised of several former Villanova players in addition to alumni of Temple and Siena, and will be facing off with Boeheim’s Army on Friday in the round of 16.

A Syracuse-Villanova matchup, of course, brings back a plethora of memories of an age-old Big East rivalry that was ultimately split up by the conference’s fracturing in 2012-13.

“It just goes to show, you know, that the Big East—the real Big East—you know we still love the game, and there’s always going to be tension, and we can say we want another Big East game in the TBT,” Moten said.

Terrence Roberts, who played for the Orange from 2003 to 2007 and made several critical plays down the stretch for Boeheim’s Army, was considerably less nostalgic in regards to the Villanova alums he’d be facing.

“I don’t care about them,” Roberts said. “I’m worried about us and winning. That’s it.”

Liberty Ballers’ Villanova alums include Antonio Pena (2011), Reggie Redding (2010), and James Bell (2014). This trio of former Wildcats also knows how to win in tight, important games, having similar experience to the Boeheim’s Army players when it comes to win-or-go home tests.

“Our goal initially was, ‘yeah, we want to make it to Chicago,’” said Liberty Ballers general manager Jake Pavorsky. “I assembled the best group of guys that I could possibly round up, and I’m excited to be heading there with them.”

We’ll have to wait and see if this Syracuse-Villanova showdown will be anything like those in the past; Boeheim’s Army certainly showed shades of recognizable Syracuse basketball in their win over 20th & Olney.

Boeheim’s Army spent the first half employing Syracuse's classic 2-3 zone, but switched to man defense after 20th & Olney’s Tyrone Garland dropped four three-pointers in the early going to take a 45-40 halftime lead.

“I love coach Boeheim but I’m just not a zone guy,” said Moten. “I know how to play man-to-man, and those guys fought together, strapped it up, and we got a great win.”

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Boeheim’s Army eked out a gutsy win in classic Syracuse fashion, and has survived to play another day in pursuit of a million dollars.