Dante “Danteh” Cruz is returning to the Houston Outlaws for the 2021 season, the Overwatch League team announced today. This move is the Outlaws’ first signing for next season.
Danteh became a free agent just a couple of weeks ago after spending the 2020 season with the Outlaws. But with a few key moves by the team, it wasn’t too difficult for management to keep the young talent in black and green.
Danteh started playing for the Outlaws in the Overwatch League’s second season after competing for the San Francisco Shock during the league’s inaugural season. Terms of his deal with the Outlaws weren’t released.
“Last season it became apparent to me that Dante possessed the elite level skills, an understanding of what it means to be a ‘consummate team player’ and that perfect combination of passion and excellence needed to become a star and core player for the Outlaws,” Beasley Esports COO Lori Burgess said.
Dante’s decision to stay with Houston comes shortly after the team picked up a pair of former Shock coaches to help guide the team: Jae “Junkbuck” Cho and Harsha Bandi. Danteh openly admitted that their additions played a factor in his choice to remain on the Outlaws.
“Picking up Junkbuck really influenced my decision to stay,” Dante said. “He is a great coach and I believe the Outlaws will benefit a lot with him leading our team. The team roster is going to look very different. While it is bittersweet because a lot of my older friends are no longer on the team, I am excited to play with new players.”
Along with adding Junkbuck and Bandi to the coaching staff, the Outlaws recently promoted Matt “coolmatt” Iorio to general manager after he spent some time playing and being the team’s logistics manager.
Keeping Danteh will help the team fill out a relatively empty roster. Earlier this month, the Outlaws had five players, including Jiri “LiNkzr” Masalin and Jeffrey “Blase” Tsang, become free agents over the course of just a few days.
