Orangeyes Daily Articles for Friday for Basketball

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Welcome to Moon Day!

Moon Day celebrates the anniversary of the day in 1969 when humankind first walked on the Moon. The Apollo space program had begun under the Eisenhower administration, but a tightened focus on placing a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s occurred after President John F. Kennedy gave a speech before a joint session of Congress, on May 25, 1961, during which he said, "I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth." This speech was given in the context of the Cold War, when the United States was still behind the Soviet Union in the space race but wanted to beat them in landing a man on the Moon.

SU News

Former Pittsford Sutherland star Ryan Blackwell comfortable leading Boeheim's Army in TBT (D&C; Johnson)

It's a relatively quiet Tuesday at the Carmelo K. Anthony Center as Boeheim's Army prepares for ESPN's The Basketball Tournament (TBT).

Former Syracuse stars Brandon Triche and Eric Devendorf lead the team of former Orange standouts that will compete for $2 million through a series of offensive sets as their 6-foot-7 coach Ryan Blackwell casually looks on.

Coming off a Final Four berth in last year's tournament, Boeheim's Army is the No. 1 seed in the Northeast Regional. Boeheim's Army opens TBT play at 6:50 p.m. Saturday against the winner of the South Jamaica Kings-Philadelphia Stars at Long Island University in Brooklyn.

Blackwell, a two-time All Greater Rochester Player of the Year at Sutherland,doesn't say much during practice and he doesn't have to as his players effortlessly execute his offense. There's a quiet confidence that exudes from Blackwell, which is well earned.

After all, in March he led the Liverpool Warriors to a 26-0 record and their first state championship in Class AA. Blackwell was also selected as the USA Today New York State Basketball Coach of the Year.

"It was big, to be able to win, in my third year as a head coach, (Liverpool's) first-ever state championship," Blackwell said. "And to go undefeated, it wasn't easy.

"We had some injuries, our best player got hurt for about 8-10 games. Other guys stepped up which probably made us better, but to do it in that fashion and to be the first coach to bring one (home) was pretty special."
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Syracuse Basketball: Arinze Onuaku is a perfect fit for Boeheim’s Army (itlh.com; Adler)

With the unfortunate news that Paul Harris can’t play in The Basketball Tournament, Boeheim’s Army has brought on board big man Arinze Onuaku.

Boeheim’s Army is just a matter of days from beginning its quest to capture the $2 million, winner-take-all The Basketball Tournament (“TBT”).

The squad, named after legendary SU hoops boss Jim Boeheim, boasts a ton of highly talented former Orange greats. However, its line-up has undergone a bit of a shuffle leading up to its opening contest this coming weekend.

Syracuse.com has reported that forward Paul Harris, an absolute monster on the glass, will not participate in the 2018 TBT. “Harris wasn’t sure he would be able to make all the dates in the team’s schedule,” the article said.

Totally understandable, but nonetheless a bummer. I had eagerly anticipated seeing Harris suit up for Boeheim’s Army for the inaugural instance. Perhaps in 2019!

On a juicy note, Boeheim’s Army announced via Twitter that it is adding Arinze Onuaku, a 6-9 center, to its ranks of imposing studs who will anchor the crew’s 2-3 zone. That is, of course, assuming that Boeheim’s Army ends up playing zone.
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Saints Alive, Boeheim's Army, Jimmer and The Basketball Tournament (alloveralbany.com)

One of the most fun new things in sports over the last few years has been The Basketball Tournament. It's what it sounds like: A 72-team single-elimination tournament that any team can enter with a $2 million winner-take-all prize.

Part of what's made TBT so much fun is that a bunch of the participating teams have been made up of alumni from college basketball teams. And this year's TBT includes alumni teams for both Siena and Syracuse (and they could play each other).

Saints Alive
The Siena alumni team -- Saints Alive -- features such Siena greats as OD Anosike, Kenny Hasbrouck, Ronald Moore, Ryan Rossiter, and Edwin Ubiles. It takes on Team Fancy, a collection of players from a bunch of colleges, this Saturday at 8:40 pm in Brooklyn. The game will be available via Watch ESPN.

Boeheim's Army
The Syracuse alumni team -- Boeheim's Army -- has been one of the mainstays of TBT the last few years, bowing out last year in the final four to (now) three-time champ Overseas Elite. This year's Boeheim's Army is stacked, with players such as Eric Devendorf, Kris Jospeh, Demetris Nichols, James Southerland, Brandon Triche, Hakim Warrick, and the late addition of Arinze Onuaku. Boeheim's Army plays the winner of South Jamaica Kings/Philadelphia Stars this SaTurday at 6:50 pm in Brooklyn. The game will be available via Watch ESPN.

And if both Boeheim's Army and Saints Alive win their first games, they'll face each other Sunday at 4:40 pm. And the game will again be on Watch ESPN.

Jimmer!
Also in this year's TBT: Jimmer! Yep, Jimmer Fredette is suiting up for Team Fredette (his brother TJ is one of the the GMs). His team plays Saturday at noon in Columbus against the winner of West Coast Ronin/Peoria AllStars. The Lonely Master averaged almost 37 points per game for the Shanghai Sharks in China this past season.

ACC’s Swofford believes basketball’s one-and-done is done (newsobserver.com; DeCock)

Maybe not right away, but ACC commissioner John Swofford believes one-and-done is done in college basketball.

“I think so and I hope so,” Swofford said Thursday in a one-on-one interview as the ACC Kickoff wrapped up in Charlotte. “The conversations that I’ve been a part of recently, I think it’s on its way out. Not this year, but soon. And I certainly hope so. And I don’t think that solves all the ills by any means, but I think it will help.”

Swofford said he expects the NBA and NBPA to simply revert to the previous model that allowed 18-year-olds to turn pro directly out of high school, without any requirement for players who do attend college to stay for two years or other restrictions.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last week that the Rice Commission evaluating college basketball on the NCAA’s behalf in the wake of the FBI investigation has made it clear to him it doesn’t want one-and-done players coming into the NCAA, and Silver said was ready to take that to the union for discussion.

“My personal view is that we’re ready to make that change,” Silver said.

Swofford also addressed a number of topics of interest within the ACC, from future basketball tournament sites to the possibility of opening basketball season with conference games as the ACC Network launches to the future of ACC e-sports video-game competitions.

On future basketball tournament sites beyond Greensboro in 2020: “I think we’re very close to doing that. I would think that would be coming. I thought we would have it in May. What we’re trying to do, we’re probably looking at two years after Greensboro, but we also want to have under consideration what’s beyond those two years, or have some sense of it, because we don’t want to do something in those two years that prevents us from having an even better rotation the next three years. I expect we’ll make a two-year announcement and I would expect that announcement to be early fall.”

On the status of the ACC Network, which launches next August: “With the channel, everything’s right where it should be. We’re a year away and there will be a lot of activity during this year, much more so – there’s been a lot of activity, there will be even more during the year leading in.”
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Other

Following partial bridge collapse, 'Sandwich Saturday' will move to a new spot (PS; Eisenstadt)

Al-amin Muhammad's phone starting blowing up when two 30-ton chunks of concrete fell off the West Onondaga Street bridge July 5.

"Hundreds of people called and left messages on Facebook," said Muhammad, of We Rise Above the Street. Muhammad has been hosting "Sandwich Saturdays" for the homeless near the bridge every Saturday for more than two years. After they make sandwiches at Muhammad's office, a legion of volunteers hand out food, supplies and a dose of humanity in the shadow of the concrete bridge.

Even the mayor reached out to see what see Muhammad was planning to do, he said.

The first Sandwich Saturday after the bridge fell stayed near the bridge so the regulars would know where to find them.

But then Muhammad took last week off so he could figure out a new, safer place. This Saturday, the volunteers will go to nearby Billings Park, instead, Muhammad said.

The decision to move was not easy.

"It's been a struggle," Muhammad said. The bridge, right near the Rescue Mission campus, is where Muhammad and his grown stepson began handing out cheeseburgers from McDonald's three years ago when Muhammad moved here from Atlanta.
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