Mookie Watkins Joins Boeheim's Army

By Jacqueline Mundry 

Staff photos

SYRACUSE N.Y.-- The Carmelo Anthony Center is always full of banners, but on Thursday evening it was also full with familiar faces.  

Former players played a few games of organized pickup with current players in preparation for the first round of The Basketball Tournament in Philadelphia on Saturday. 

The team is coming back "bigger and better" and ready to win, according to General Manager and Boeheim's Army organizer, Kevin Belbey. Part of that has to do with some new members, including Darryl "Mookie" Watkins.

The Basketball Tournament is broken up into four regional brackets with single game elimination, therefore, teams need to win the first two games in their division to move on to the Super 16.

This is the second year that former Orangemen, calling themselves Boeheim's Army, have gotten together for a chance to win the grand prize which is now $2 million. Last year the team made it to the regional semifinals before being knocked out by City of Gods, which is the number one seed in the region this year.

Watkins had the opportunity to play for Boeheim's Army last year but didn't decide to join until now.

"I saw how big it was and I wanted to be a part of it this year," Watkins, 31,  said sitting barefoot at courtside after the scrimmages.

The seven-foot-tall Watkins played for Syracuse from 2003-2007 starting in 67 of his 106 appearances. He is best known for his shot blocking ability on the court.

Since 2007 Watkins has played on a variety of teams including the Sacramento Kings. In 2009, Watkins went to play overseas and since then he has been on a different team every season, until he signed with ASVEL Basket of France's LNB Pro A League.He has been an all-star in France and this past year won a championship with his team.

Together Again

Being back home at Syracuse, Watkins has the opportunity to catch up with old friends including Eric Devendorf and Terrence Roberts (with Watkins below), with whom he played as a student.

"It's easy to just come together and play the game that you know and that you live to play," Watkins said.

Watkins said he is very excited to be back at Syracuse with his former teammates and friends where he can reminisce on his time in orange,

"Everywhere we went we always had a lot of fans that supported us, whether we were in New York or just went down South, or in the West Coast, we always had somebody wearing orange. And I loved that part of it," he said.

 He also noted how proud he is to be a Syracuse alumnus, "to this day if I tell somebody that I went to Syracuse, it's like their eyes light up."

The team is confident going into The Basketball Tournament mainly because many of them have played together before and they have a lot of team chemistry.

"Judging from a couple pick up games, I think we play well together," Watkins said.

Coach Ryan Blackwell, a former SU player himself, indicated is just as confident as Watkins is with the team's ability to win it all.

"With the addition of (Brandon) Triche, with the addition of CJ Fair, Mookie Watkins, we're a little bit bigger, more athleticism, and more guys we can go to down the stretch." Blackwell said.

The number two seed, Boeheim's Army will take on the number 15 Basketball City NYC at 7:30 on Saturday for the chance to advance round two. The finals will be aired on August 2 on ESPN.