A quick take on Boeheim’s Army announcing its 2022 TBT roster:
WHAT HAPPENED: Boeheim’s Army, a group of largely former Syracuse Orange basketball players, announced its 2022 lineup via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin as it seeks to defend its TBT Championship. The roster consists of returning players Andrew White III, CJ Fair, DJ Kennedy and DeAndre Kane. Newcomers include Rakeem Christmas, Tyler Ennis, Marek Dolezaj, Kyle Wiltjer and Dee Bost.
ANALYSIS: General manager Kevin Belbey has once again put together a competitive roster of players. He’s added Syracuse NBA talents Ennis, the 18th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, and Christmas, the 36th overall pick in the 2015 draft. Wiltjer, who played at Kentucky and Gonzaga, also had a brief stint with the NBA’s Houston Rockets. Those three players bump up the overall total of Boeheim’s Army players to have had NBA service to five people (joining White and Kennedy).
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HERO: Two other intriguing additions are glue guy Marek Dolezaj, a 2021 SU graduate who spent the past season with the Greek team Gymnastikos Syllogos Iraklis, and Dee Bost, who is playing in the TBT for the third time, having also played with Team Challenge ALS (2019) and Playing for Jimmy V (2021).
ZERO: The two most notable absences from this year’s team are Eric Devendorf and Keifer Sykes. Devendorf had played every game for Boeheim’s Army since it started competing in the TBT and had stated the 2021 tournament would be his last one. And Sykes will be forever etched in Syracuse lore (despite having never attended) for hitting the championship-winning shot in 2021. He earned a spot with the Indiana Pacers this past season and will use the summer to try to find a way back to the NBA. Certainly, both players will be missed.
WHAT’S NEXT: The Orange will play in the Syracuse Regional from July 22-25 at SRC Arena.
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