A team comprised of former Tennessee basketball student-athletes is one of 64 squads set to compete in this summer’s The Basketball Tournament (TBT), a $1 million winner-take-all event.
Organized by VFL point guard Bobby Maze (2008-10), the “Ballinteers” roster includes Jordan Bowden (2016-20), Wayne Chism (2006-10), Duke Crews (2006-08), John Fields (2010-11), Chris Lofton (2004-08), J.P. Prince (2007-10), JaJuan Smith (2004-08), Tyler Smith (2007-10), Cameron Tatum (2007-12) and Lamonte Turner (2016-19). The team will be coached by VFL Ron Slay (1999-2003).
The Ballinteers have been pegged as the No. 9 seed in the TBT’s Columbus Regional, which will be played at Ohio State’s Covelli Center from July 23-27. They will face a team of Purdue alums, No. 8 Men of Mackey, in first-round action on Friday, July 23 at 7 p.m. ET.
Should the Ballinteers advance, they would face the winner of Carmen’s Crew (Ohio State alumni) and Mid American Unity on Sunday, July 25 at 4 pm ET. The final games of the Columbus Regional take place on Tuesday, July 27.
Broadcast specifics are forthcoming, but TBT games will be available on the ESPN family of networks.
Two teams will advance from each of TBT’s four regionals to compete in the tournament’s Championship Weekend at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio. Quarterfinals games will be played on July 31, and semifinals on Aug. 1. The TBT Championship takes place Aug. 3.
TBT has come to be known for its use of the “Elam Ending,” which is a fairly new win/loss determinant in the game of basketball, and one that is growing in popularity. Designed to preserve a more natural end-of-game finish, the Elam Ending calls for the game clock to be shut off at the first dead ball with less than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. A target score is then established by adding eight points to the leading team’s score. For example, if the score is 80-72, the teams continue play until a team reaches 88 points. With no game clock in play during the closing minutes, trailing teams are allowed to focus on getting stops and buckets, rather than intentionally fouling.
For more information on the Ballinteers and tickets for this year’s TBT, visit TheTournament.com.
-UT Athletics
