MORGANTOWN — The WVU men’s basketball alumni team Best Virginia is set to begin the annual $1 million TBT basketball tournament Saturday afternoon inside the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Best Virginia has a 7-4 record in the TBT tournament and will be the three-seed in the Pittsburgh Regional. In the first round, it will face Brotherly Love, the No. 6 seed from Philadelphia.
“We like the roster we have put together this summer with a good mix of guys who have played the TBT before and who can make an impact for us,” Best Virginia head coach Chase Harler said. “We know that our foundation needs to be our defense going into Saturday. With this tournament, shooting can be unpredictable, but we know the defense will be something we can rely on.”
Harler, a former Mountaineer and Best Virginia player, is serving his first summer as head coach and has ushered in a new era for the WVU alumni team as the roster has seen turnover from the last few summers. Players like Kevin Jones and John Flowers, who played for WVU during the Final Four run in 2010, have moved on to serve in other roles. Now, the era of players such as Esa Ahmad, Sagaba Konate and Wesley Harris have joined the BV roster this summer.
“It’s exciting to be a part of something new with this team,” Harler said. “These are the guys I played with at WVU and who are closer to my age. John Flowers and those guys got this thing going and it has turned into something so special for us, I’m blessed that he passed it down and gave me the opportunity. I want to do my best to continue the success they started.”
Three critical additions for the Best Virginia roster this summer come from two former Mountaineers, Tarik Philip, and Devin Williams, and TBT veteran Marcus Keene, previously with TBT team Sideline Cancer.
“Those three will be huge additions for us this summer,” Harler said. “Marcus and Tarik are good friends and when we reached out and talked it just made sense. Marcus is a TBT legend who brings toughness to both sides of the ball.”
Ahmad is coming off a productive professional season in Germany, where he played for BBC Bayreuth in the German Pro A League and averaged 14.2 points and five rebounds.
“It’s great being able to play in front of the fans again, and we know they will show out when we go up to Pittsburgh,” he said. “I came off of a meniscus tear and got a four-month contract in Germany. I was playing well so they extended me, so that was a really good season for me.”
Ahmad led Best Virginia in an exhibition victory on July 12th in Buckhannon with 19 points.
Konate also joins Best Virginia for his first summer in TBT. He and Wesley Harris each add to the team’s length, which could be one of BV’s key strengths coming into the tournament.
“That’s good for us. We can switch a lot of things,” Ahmad said. “Whether we’re playing against big guards or other long guys, we can switch and make it a little tougher on them.”
No. 3 Best Virginia will begin the TBT tournament against No. 6 Brotherly Love from the Petersen Events Center in the first round of the Pittsburgh Regional at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
