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Meet the ‘Cuse Dudes’: 4 viral Syracuse fans at Players Era Festival

Meet the ‘Cuse Dudes’: 4 viral Syracuse fans at Players Era Festival

Elliott Keller, Tate Thompson and brothers Jake and Nate Kurtz have gone viral on social media for attending Syracuse's Players Era Festival games donning full uniforms. Justin Girshon | Senior Staff Writer

By Cooper Andrews, Justin GirshonThe Daily Orange

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LAS VEGAS — Four guys gambling together in Las Vegas isn’t a novel concept. But Sin City hasn’t quite seen a friend group like this.

“We were at the MGM (Grand) playing blackjack, then everyone was like, ‘Oh, my God, you’re the Cuse Dudes,’” Elliot Keller said.

Throughout Syracuse’s two losses in the Players Era Festival, Keller, Tate Thompson and brothers Jake and Nate Kurtz have gone viral for decking themselves out in orange SU uniforms while sitting courtside. The TNT broadcast highlighted them as the “Hangover Four” during the Orange’s loss to Houston, and they’ve become social media sensations.

Though the Kurtz brothers are from Hudson Valley, New York, and grew up big Syracuse fans, neither attended SU. Jake, 30, moved to Montana after high school to work, while Nate, 25, attended college in Pittsburgh before joining Jake in Montana just over a year ago.

Meanwhile, Keller and Thompson — who are childhood friends and both 25 — went to Montana State and started a landscaping company together while they were juniors. Around that time, Thompson and Jake met, worked together and their relationship has blossomed since.

Naturally, Thompson introduced Keller to the Kurtz brothers, which is how they’ve all become friends. So, what brought them to Vegas?

“Gambling and college basketball,” Thompson said. “There’s not a better mix than that.”

Gambling and watching college basketball don’t make the group special, though. Their impossible-to-miss jerseys do.

Jake and Thompson hatched the idea after they remembered seeing other people do the same thing at a New York Knicks game 10 years ago. As lifelong Syracuse fans, the Kurtz brothers wanted to support the men’s basketball team in the grandest way they could. Thompson and Elliot didn’t need to be convinced to join.

Though the most Syracuse basketball Keller watched before Monday were 2003 National Championship highlights, he said he admired Jim and Buddy Boeheim, prompting him to get Buddy’s No. 35 jersey. As a big Carmelo Anthony fan, Jake opted for his son, Kiyan’s, No. 7. Meanwhile, Thompson got a custom No. 5 jersey with his last name on the back.

As for Nate, a curly-haired ginger man, there was only one possible jersey for him to don: his fellow redhead Noah Lobdell. Nate bears a strikingly similar hairdo to Lobdell’s, so he bought a Syracuse No. 24 jersey to represent the Orange’s sophomore walk-on guard.

“It’s funny. (Same) haircut, hair color. Why not?” Nate said.

Following Syracuse’s overtime loss to Houston, Jake got a text from one of his friends, who said the TNT broadcast showed the four and the announcers were “dogging” them for dressing in full uniforms. Little did they know social media had already exploded with reactions to the “Hangover Four.”

Syracuse fans all over X posted about them, with most being impressed by their dedication to the bit and others calling for them to replace SU’s own players at the free-throw line. Even Barstool Sports got in on the fun in an X post that has over 1,700 likes and 140,000 views. The NCAA’s official March Madness account did, too.

When asked what his favorite part of the experience has been, Keller didn’t shy away from the spotlight.

“Honestly, the interviews and the TV coverage,” he said.

But their true shining moment wasn’t captured by the Players Era broadcast. On Tuesday, at halftime of Syracuse’s game against Kansas, Nate, Thompson and Keller went onto the hardwood at MGM Grand Garden Arena and played a game of knockout alongside three Jayhawks fans. Jake stood behind the basket and impassionately cheered his friends on.

A highly intense, near-three-minute knockout session took place for some quality halftime entertainment. The three guys in Syracuse uniforms gracefully ran back and forth from the free-throw line to under the basket so they could grab their rebound. Typically, they needed multiple tries to lay it in from a foot away.

Yet, much like the Orange in this year’s Players Era Festival, the “Hangover Four” struggled to hit shots from the free-throw line and lost to the Kansas fans.

Still, the Kurtzes are holding out hope for this season’s Syracuse squad. They were compelled to come to Vegas because they think Adrian Autry’s program is heading in the right direction. And they’d love nothing more than to wear their full uniforms at a game again once March hits.

“I love it, man. It’s been a good year,” Jake said. “Melo’s son is here. We got a deep team, we got a chance to really do something this year, so I’m excited.”

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Published on November 26, 2025 at 8:32 am

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