MSU hoops alums reuniting for $2 million tournament
Brandon Wood is reuniting some of Michigan State’s hooping royalty for a chance to win a king’s ransom.
A $2 million payday, to be exact, in an event simply called The Basketball Tournament.
“I feel like we have a good group of guys,” said Wood, who organized the Spartan Heroes team for the third-annual tournament. “I was looking through those teams, and there’s definitely going to be some high-level competition. Especially when that money’s on the line, that’s going to up the competition even more.”
The Basketball Tournament is a March Madness-style, one-and-done event. There will be a 64-team field that is divided into four regions – the MSU entry will compete in the Chicago region from July 16 to 17 at The Shannon Center at St. Xavier University. The other regionals are in Los Angeles, Charlotte and Philadelphia.
From there, the Super 16 teams remaining advance to Philadelphia University for two more rounds on July 21 and 23. The semifinals and finals will be held July 31 and the finals Aug. 2 at Fordham University in New York.
The purse has doubled each year, from $500,000 in 2014 to $1 million last year. Jack’s Links beef jerky is a primary sponsor, and the championship game will be shown on ESPN. A group of Notre Dame alumni won the first year, while Okemos High graduate Travis Bader was on last year’s Overseas Elite winning team.
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A number of former NBA players have formed teams in the open tournament, but former college teammates coming back together has been a common theme for success. MSU will join Kentucky, Syracuse, Villanova and Marquette among nearly 40 alumni teams in the tournament.
“The college teams are really successful with their chemistry and their system in place,” said Jesse Leeds-Grant, PR and Recruiting Director for The Basketball Tournament. “The goal really was to make it the most open and democratic sporting event in the world. It actually just worked out that way with Notre Dame setting the precedent in 2014. Now, all these other alumni teams saw the value of that and followed pace.”
Travis Walton will coach the Spartan Heroes. Wood will be joined by Charlie Bell, Brandan Kearney, Korie Lucious, Raymar Morgan, Derrick Nix, Delvon Roe and Durrell Summers on the 11-player roster. Former MSU manager Scott Besko and Nate Miller from Bowling Green plan to join them. Wood also said Shannon Brown, who is currently undergoing rehab, is expected to join them if he is healthy.
“Brandon hit me up, and I was on the golf course,” said Roe, who retired from college hoops before his final season at MSU in 2011-12 due to chronic knee problems. “He asked if I was still playing basketball from time to time, and I said, ‘Yeah, of course I am.’ He told me he was getting a team together filled with all Spartans to play in the TBT for $2 million. And when he told me that, about getting Spartan guys back together, I was all in.”
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A number of those guys are playing overseas professionally. Wood, who played at MSU as a graduate transfer from Valparaiso in the 2011-12 season, played professionally in Lithuania and Israel in the past year.
“I’m looking forward to not only playing and the event itself, but being able to come together and spend time with some guys from different years that I didn’t get to spend much time with,” Wood said. “I think it’s gonna be a big deal for the program when it comes down to it. I’m looking forward to it, and I know the other players I’ve talked to are really looking forward to it as well.”
For the Spartan Heroes roster and to vote, log on to https://www.thetournament.com/teams/spartan-heroes-michigan-state-alumni. If they reach 2,000 votes, they can add a pre-designated 12th player to the roster, dubbed “The Ringer,” who could join the team in the Super 16. Spartan Heroes ranks seventh in the voting as of Tuesday night.