Boeheim’s Army to play Seton Hall alumni in 1st Round of revamped TBT
Boeheim’s Army will play Hall In, a group of Seton Hall alumni, on July 21 in The Basketball Tournament’s First Round. Trent Kaplan | Daily Orange File Photo
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With a new $2 million format, Boeheim’s Army will open its The Basketball Tournament campaign against Hall In, a group of Seton Hall alumni, The Tournament announced Thursday.
The best-of-three series tips off on July 21, with Game 1 at Seton Hall’s Walsh Gymnasium and Games 2 and 3 at the Oncenter War Memorial in Syracuse. The format marks a shift from last year’s TBT, which featured 61 teams in a six-round single-elimination bracket with a $1 million prize.
Now, the stakes are higher. Despite doubling the prize, TBT split the bracket into even quarters. The revamped tournament features 16 teams, half alumni and half non-alumni, which start on opposite sides of the bracket.
Boeheim’s Army and Hall In join six other alumni teams — The Ville (Louisville), La Familia (Kentucky), Purple Reign (Kansas State), JHX Hoops (Kansas), Aftershocks (Wichita State) and The Enchantment (New Mexico) — in games dispersed across the United States.
TBT allows a maximum of four non-alumni players per alumni team. For Boeheim’s Army, it means at least 11 of its 15 rostered players will have played for SU before.
On the non-alumni side, TeamBIG.io and Black Sheep Boyz Hoops, alongside six other unannounced teams, will also play three-game series in a “made-for-TV setting” at the M Resort Spa Casino in Las Vegas. Two of the six unannounced slots in the Las Vegas Bracket haven’t been filled. The Tournament is currently auctioning those spots for $175,000 and $250,000.
“We are doubling down on our belief that high-stakes sporting events are the best fan experience in sports,” TBT CEO Jon Mugar said in a press release Monday. “By doubling the prize and separating our bracket into alumni and non-alumni, we are now able to deliver a better experience to more basketball fans and players.”
Once Round 1 ends, the quarterfinals and semifinals will both be single elimination, before the last non-alumni team standing travels to the alumni bracket winner’s home court for the championship game on Aug. 2.
Headlined by Buddy Boeheim, BA looks to avenge its Round 2 exit in 2025. Buddy is the only player on Boeheim’s Army confirmed for the tournament, but his brother Jimmy, currently with Oliveirense in the Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol playoffs, is expected to play as well. Joe Girard III will not be available.
Last year marked a reunion for Jimmy and Buddy. Jimmy has been a mainstay with Boeheim’s Army, while Buddy’s NBA schedule didn’t allow him to play until 2025. Buddy played for Syracuse from 2018-22, while Jimmy, who spent his first four seasons at Cornell, joined him for the 2021-22 campaign.
Seton Hall’s alumni are making their first appearance since 2018, when Khadeen Carrington and Desi Rodriguez led them past Jack Attack, before falling to the Golden Eagles. Hall In will be captained by Isaiah Whitehead, who played for the Pirates from 2014-16. Whitehead made the All-Big East First Team when he led Seton Hall to the 2016 Big East Tournament title.
Hall In and Boeheim’s Army have never played. Boeheim’s Army sports a 27-10 all-time record and won TBT in 2021.
