MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Best Virginia’s run for a $2 million payday in the winner-take-all The Basketball Tournament (TBT) will begin in Richmond on July 26.
Otherwise known as a West Virginia men’s basketball alumni team, Best Virginia will make its first appearance in the 64-team TBT field as a No. 4 seed and is in the same regional as four-time defending champion Overseas Elite, who is the No. 1 seed in the Richmond Regional.
“Better to see them early than to see them later,” said former WVU standout John Flowers, who serves as the team’s general manager and is also one of the 10 players on the roster. “I think it’s good to play them early and just get it over with.”
Best Virginia roster
- Da’Sean Butler, forward (WVU 2006-10)
- Kevin Jones, forward (WVU 2008-12)
- Joe Alexander, forward (WVU 2005-08)
- Nate Adrian, forward (WVU, 2013-17)
- Tarik Phillip, guard (WVU, 2014-17)
- Truck Bryant, guard (WVU 2008-12)
- Juwan Staten, guard (WVU 2012-15)
- Devin Williams, center (WVU 2013-16)
- Jaysean Paige, guard (WVU 2014-16)
- John Flowers, forward, GM (WVU 2007-11)
- Jarrod West, head coach (WVU 1994-98)
- Billy Hahn, assistant coach (assistant at WVU from 2007-2017)
- Dave Tallman, assistant coach (Morgantown High head coach)
Best Virginia begins play at 3 p.m. on July 26 at the Siegel Center, located on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth, against Seven City Royalty, an alumni team from Old Dominion.
VCU’s alumni team, Ram Nation, is the region’s host and No. 2 seed. All games will be streamed on WatchESPN.
Former WVU point guard Jarrod West, known for hitting the last-second 3-pointer to propel the Mountaineers past Cincinnati in the 1998 NCAA tournament, will serve as the head coach. West has served as the head coach at Clarksburg Notre Dame for the last 15 seasons and won a Class A state championship in 2017.
Former WVU assistant Billy Hahn and Morgantown High head coach Dave Tallman will also serve as assistant coaches.
TBT is a 64-team field that is broken down into eight regions and teams can’t have current NBA players on their roster. It is a single elimination tournament that concludes with the title game on Aug. 6 in Chicago.
“I think they’ll do pretty well,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins told The Dominion Post last month. “They have a group of guys who have plenty of NCAA tournament experience and went on to have good professional careers.”
Flowers, who has also organized the WVU Alumni Game the last several years in Morgantown and Fairmont, said there has always been interest in entering a WVU-based team into TBT.
“We actually tried to do it last year and left it up to some others to put it together,” he said. “This year, Da’Sean and myself basically said we’re going to buckle down and do it ourselves.”
To prepare for TBT, Flowers has again scheduled the WVU Alumni Game at Fairmont State’s Feaster Center on July 6.
The team will also play an exhibition game in Beckley on July 11 and in Martinsburg on July 13. Flowers said the team will begin practicing in Morgantown in early July.
“We’re hoping to get a lot of fan support at the exhibition games,” Flowers said. “We’d like to get a lot of people excited about this team.”
Another West Virginia team, the West Virginia Wildcats — a collection of former Marshall and Mountain East Conference players — was awarded the No. 5 seed in the Columbus Regional.
For ticket information visit TheTournament.com.
TBT Richmond Regional schedule
Games played at Siegel Center on VCU’s campus
July 26
3 p.m.: (4) Best Virginia vs. (5) Seven City Royalty (Old Dominion)
4:50 p.m.: (1) Overseas Elite vs (8) Hilltop Dawgs (UMBC)
6:40 p.m.: (3) Green Machine (George Mason) vs (6) The Web (Richmond)
8:30 p.m.: (2) Ram Nation (VCU) vs (7) DRC
July 27
5 p.m.: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
7 p.m.: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner
July 28
12 p.m.: Regional championship game
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