MORGANTOWN — Alex Ruoff’s initial reaction to joining Best Virginia for a summer run in The Basketball Tournament (TBT) was one of hesitancy.
“The summer, for me, has always been about getting back home and being with family and healing up little injuries,” said Ruoff, who just wrapped up his 12th professional season overseas, the latest one in Germany.
On the other end of the line was Best Virginia head coach James Long, who ended the initial conversation with Ruoff with his top selling point:
“James goes, ‘Just so you know, we’re playing this year in Charleston in front of the fans,’ ” Ruoff said. “Once he said that, I got this big smile just thinking about it. He should have led off with that.”
There has always been a connection between WVU basketball players and the fans who have supported them.
That was maybe never more evident to the Best Virginia players while playing under COVID-19 protocols that did not allow fans while overseas last season.
“Honestly, playing without the fans was the worst,” said forward John Flowers, who played last season in France. “It was basically glorified practices. There wasn’t a lot of energy.
“That’s what really has me excited about TBT, is we get to go to Charleston and be in front of the home fans again. I really understand now just how much the fans mean to the game. That connection is real and it means a lot.”
TBT is a 64-team single-elimination tournament with the winning team earning $1 million.
The championship game is scheduled for Dayton on Aug. 3.
The Charleston Coliseum is hosting one of the four 16-team regionals, and Best Virginia is the No. 2 seed in its region.
Best Virginia will play WoCo Showtime, an alumni team from Wofford, at 4 p.m. on July 17 in the first round.
The Charleston Coliseum will likely be filled with Mountaineer and Thundering Herd fans. Marshall’s alumni team — Herd That — is the No. 3 seed in the region.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it, playing without the fans was awful,” Ruoff said. “I never realized how much I needed fans until this past season.
“European fans are so loud and they have a lot of passion. They’re very much like West Virginia fans in that aspect, so to get this opportunity to play in front of them again is a big deal to me.”
The team took to the court for its first practice Tuesday at the WVU basketball practice facility.
Best Virginia will play in two exhibition games on July 7 (Beckley) and July 9 (Wheeling) before heading to Charleston.
“These guys are committed to practice and getting better,” Long said. “They have families and they’re in their off-season. It’s important that we all understand the commitment we’re all making to try and make a run in this thing. I appreciate these guys and I’m trying to be as prepared as I can be.”
TICKET INFO
For tickets to the July 7 (Beckley) and July 9 (Wheeling) exhibition games, visit
bestvirginiatbt.com
For tickets to the TBT Charleston Regional from July 17-21, visit
thetournament.com
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