A group of former Syracuse men’s basketball players will get together for a chance at $2 million in the 2016 edition of The Basketball Tournament starting this Saturday. The team is fittingly named Boeheim’s Army, composed of former Purdue guard Willie Deane and nine former Orange that span a decade of Jim Boeheim’s tenure. Last year the squad bowed out in the Elite Eight against eventual champions City of Gods. This year, second-seeded Boeheim’s Army faces No. 15 seed Basketball City NYC at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Philadelphia University to begin its quest toward the cash prize. Follow along all week as we introduce you to the team’s players and coach ahead of the matchup.

Daily Orange File Photo

Baye Moussa Keita

A fan favorite in Syracuse, Keita averaged 2.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game over his four years as a backup center. In the two years since graduating in 2014, Keita has won back-to-back Danish league titles with Horsens IC. He averaged 10.3 points and 7.8 rebounds in 2014-15 and 5.8 points and 4.9 rebounds in the 2015-16 season.

Keita never scored in double digits during his senior season behind Rakeem Christmas, but the Senegal native is known for his defense and character — Boeheim created the Baye Moussa Keita Award in 2014 as the first individual honor given in the 43 years of Syracuse’s postseason banquet.

In last year’s tournament, Keita averaged five points and 6.8 rebounds in four games. He started every game and is part of a big man group this time around that also features Rick Jackson, Terrence Roberts and Darryl Watkins.

Meet Boeheim’s Army

Donte Greene

Published on July 11, 2016 at 10:20 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman