For the second consecutive year, Syracuse basketball held the Summer Slam event for alumni, fans, donors and more. The event was held earlier this week at the Lobdell Family Farm in Skaneateles. The event was held on Wednesday.
As a press release described the event earlier this summer as:
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The event also serves as a way to fundraise NIL opportunities for the athletic department, and other Orange head coaches are scheduled to attend.
It will also feature great food and an open bar, a live and silent auction and a fireworks finale while supporting NIL opportunities for the student-athletes in partnership with One Orange Alliance.
The event was presented by Vinny Lobdell, a Central New York businessman and Syracuse Orange fan. Lobdell’s son, Noah, is a member of the Syracuse basketball roster.
So, yes, it was a money-making opportunity for the program, but it was also a way to re-connect the program with fans. That connection is needed after a 15-17 season that saw the Orange miss the postseason for the fifth straight year. While the NIL money is nice, that community connection may be the biggest impact of all.
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After taking over for the now-fired Adrian Autry, McNamara begins his first season as the team’s head coach. The former Orange player had this to say about the event on Wednesday:
“This is what separates, and what has always separated, Syracuse from 99.9% of the schools out there.”
Carmelo Anthony, the Hall of Fame player, Orange legend, and father of current SU guard Kiyan Anthony, was in attendance for the event.
Anthony is a fixture around the program, and was seen sitting courtside at several games last season while supporting Kiyan. This year, Anthony seems to be taking more of a hands on role in developing future assets for the program. Anthony spoke with reporter Mike Waters about his advanced involvement with the program.
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“You have to do things and think outside the box. If you continue to think inside the box, then you’ll get left behind. So doing an event like this, this is not a heavy lift in the sense of, you know, getting the community together, getting the guys together, getting the coaches together, getting everybody to support one cause, which is Syracuse.”
This year’s event featured a three-point shooting contest and dunk contest, which surely helped bring the energy.
However, it was not only members of the Syracuse basketball program that were present. Head football coach Fran Brown, women’s basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack and athletic director Bryan Blair were in attendance as well. Fans had a chance to interact with some of the popular figures that lead Syracuse athletics, which is not something that comes about every day.
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While the exact total of NIL money was not released, the hope is that events like this will continue to bring in finances to help Syracuse contend in the competitive college basketball landscape.
Blair has mentioned the One Orange Alliance, the NIL agency that was newly created, as a way to raise money for multiple Syracuse teams. Blair has yet to release how much of the funding from this event will go directly to the basketball program, or how much will go to the One Orange Alliance.
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