TBT Record 71 Players with NBA Experience and 29 Alumni Teams to Compete

Jimmer Fredette, Projected 2023 Draft Top-10 Picks Ausar and Amen Thompson Highlight Field of 64 Competing for $1M Prize on ESPN

The Basketball Tournament (TBT) – the $1 million, winner-take-all, summer basketball event broadcast live on ESPN networks today released the bracket for this year’s tournament. For the fifth year in a row, all games will feature TBT’s Elam Ending®.

Now in its ninth year, TBT 2022 will feature 71 players with NBA experience and 29 college alumni teams, both of which are TBT records. The field will once again feature 64 teams squaring off in a single-elimination format and will be supported by longtime partners PUMA, Zelle, and E&J Brandy. 

The field will be split into eight regions played over two weeks in July. Seven of those regions will be headlined by alumni teams, while the eighth regional will be played at Rucker Park’s legendary Greg Marius Court in New York City.

One team from each region will advance to the quarterfinals, which will be split between Wichita, Kansas (July 27) and Dayton, Ohio (July 28-29). Dayton will also host TBT’s semifinals (July 30), as well as TBT’s $1 million winner-take-all championship game (Aug. 2).

“This year’s field is electrifying,” said TBT founder and CEO Jon Mugar. “Nine years ago, we set out to be the home for high stakes, open-to-all basketball, pitting people against one another from all walks of life. This year’s field demonstrates how far we’ve come. It is exceptionally diverse and talented. I can’t wait to see what team wins six straight games.”

The full TBT 2022 schedule includes:

Regional Host Cities

    Omaha, Neb. – headlined by Omaha Blue Crew (Creighton) – July 16-19

    New York City, N.Y. (Rucker Park) – headlined by Marcus Smart’s YGC – July 16-20

    Albuquerque, N.M. – headlined by The Enchantment (University of New Mexico) – July 28-21

    Wichita, Kan. – headlined by AfterShocks (Wichita State) – July 22-25

    Syracuse, N.Y. – headlined by Boehiem’s Army (Syracuse) – July 22-25

    Charleston, W. Va.  – headlined by Best Virginia (West Virginia) and Herd That (Marshall)  – July 24-27

    Cincinnati, Ohio – headlined by Zip ‘Em Up (Xavier) – July 24-27

    Dayton, Ohio – headlined by Red Scare (Dayton) – July 24-27

Championship Week Schedule 

    Quarterfinals – July 27 (Wichita), July 28-29 (Dayton)

    Semifinals –  Saturday, July 30 (Dayton)

    $1 Million, Winner-Take-All Championship – Tuesday, Aug. 2 (Dayton) 

Highlights of this year’s tournament include: 

- New Look Boeheim’s Army Set to Defend TBT Title – Boeheim’s Army, who after seven years finally won its first TBT championship, is set to defend its title in Syracuse this summer. First-time TBT participants and Syracuse alums Tyler Ennis, Rakeem Christmas, and Marek Dolezaj join a core that includes TBT legend D.J. Kennedy, who is seeking his sixth TBT title, and DeAndre Kane, who is going for his fifth.

- TBT Steps Outdoors at World Famous Rucker Park – TBT will be playing games outdoors for the first time in the event’s history this summer at New York City’s famed Rucker Park. The event, in partnership with Chick-Fil-A Tri-State and the NBPA, will be free and open to the public. Headlining the regional are YGC, a team backed by Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart, and Skip To My Lou, named after and coached by former NBA player and streetball legend Rafer Alston.

- Jimmer Fredette Joins The Money Team – 2011 National college player of the year and NBA Draft lottery pick Jimmer Fredette will return to TBT this summer as a member of Floyd Mayweather’s The Money Team. A quarterfinalist in 2021, The Money Team’s roster also includes three other players with NBA experience: Trevor Booker, Jeremy Evans, Charles Jenkins, and Xavier Munford.

- Overtime Enters TBT’s First Draft-Eligible Team – Media brand Overtime will enter its first TBT team, Team Overtime, which is slated to include four 2023 draft-eligible prospects from their new professional pathway program Overtime Elite. Twins Ausar and Amen Thompson, both projected top-10 picks in the 2023 NBA Draft, will be joined by former five-star recruit Jazian Gortman and four-star recruit Jaylen Martin on a roster with several veteran professionals, including former NBA player Malcolm Thomas. Team Overtime will be competing in the Omaha Regional.

- Rivalries Renewed – Two brand new sets of bitter rivals could be facing off in TBT this summer. Xavier Regional headliner, Zip ‘Em Up (Xavier Alumni), will be joined by crosstown rival Nasty Nati, a Cincinnati alumni team whose roster includes former first-round pick Jacob Evans. The Enchantment, a New Mexico alumni team, and Panamaniacs, a New Mexico State alumni team, will go head-to-head in the first-round of the New Mexico Regional in a battle for in-state supremacy. Best Virginia, the West Virginia alumni team, and Herd That, the Marshall alumni team, could both finally get their long-awaited matchup in the second round of the West Virginia Regional. Stillwater Stars, an Oklahoma State alumni team starring Markel Brown, will go toe-to-toe with Big 12 foes Air Raiders, a first-year Texas Tech alumni team composed mainly of their 2019 NCAA Tournament Runner-Up team that includes former first-round pick Zhaire Smith.

- Sideline Cancer’s Big Offseason – TBT’s runner-up in 2020 and a quarterfinalist in 2021, Sideline Cancer is gearing up for a championship run. They’ll add Mike Daum, the NCAA’s seventh leading scorer all-time, 16-year NBA veteran C.J. Miles, and former Iowa State star Diante Garrett to take some of the scoring load off explosive guard Marcus Keene.

Free Throws…

• TBT’s & Puma’s innovative 33-point contest, which pits two shooters head-to-head where the first to make 11 threes advances, will return. The final eight shooters who advance out of TBT’s regional locations will compete live on Thursday, July 28 live on ESPN2 for a $33,333 grand prize. Winner-take-all.
• NFT project Gutter Cat Gang has entered a TBT team in the Omaha Regional in collaboration with Kyle Hines, the most decorated American in European basketball history.
• Notable boxer and Cincinnati native Adrien Broner’s AboutBillions team will compete in the Xavier Regional for the first time.
• Prominent content brand Friday Beers will make their first foray into TBT’s field in 2022, taking over longtime TBT franchise Armored Athlete.
• India Rising, TBT’s first team of players entirely of Indian descent, will be competing in the Syracuse Regional. Their roster includes former Stanford big man Josh Sharma, and one time G League Ignite prospect Princepal Singh.

Tickets for all TBT game days and events are on sale now at www.thetournament.com. For more information, please contact info@thetournament.com.

About The Basketball Tournament

The home of the Elam Ending®, The Basketball Tournament has grown from a unique idea among friends to one of the most exciting and engaging events on the summer sports calendar, with worldwide exposure on ESPN and events across the country - culminating in a winner-take-all $1 million game. Every year it attracts some of the best players in the world. For more information on TBT’s ninth season, visit www.thetournament.com