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 SU head coach 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.

Ryan Blackwell

Coming off his first season as head coach of nearby Liverpool High School, Blackwell replaces Lawrence Moten as Boeheim’s Army head coach this summer. Liverpool posted an 18-5 record this past season, finishing 30th in the final Class AA rankings in New York.

As a player, Blackwell scored 11.8 points and tallied 7.8 rebounds over his career for Syracuse, a three-year tenure after he transferred from Illinois after his freshman season. He started each of his three seasons playing under Boeheim and went on to play professionally in Japan, England, France, Portugal and Uruguay.

At 39 years old, Blackwell may not be ripe enough to suit it up for Boeheim’s Army this summer, but his coaching expertise will come in handy as he replaces SU’s all-time leading scorer on the end of the bench in the tournament.