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The basketball junkie's dream world is coming to Philadelphia this summer. Former college and NBA stars will be competing in The Basketball Tournament, a 32-team single-elimination, winner-take-all tournament for $500,000. Philadelphia University will host the tourney from June 6-8.
The field for The Basketball Tournament (TBT), has recently been announced, but it took months to be assembled. Starting March 1st TBT opened it's sign-up to the public. GMs created their own team pages and recruited players and fans for their squads. Once a team had at least 7 players and 100 fans, they were considered eligible for the tournament.
Applications for TBT closed on May 1, and TBT announced the field shortly after. TBT selected eight of the 32 teams, and the other 24 were selected by the size of their fan group. The teams with the top four fan counts will be able to select their first-round opponents.
There's no shortage of stars in TBT's field, which includes former college and professional stars from around the country and around the world. Team TYGTAL features former Ohio State guard Lenzelle Smith Jr., NBA journeyman Hakim Warrick and the always entertaining Marshall Henderson.
Several former college squads will reunite for the tourney. Members of Villanova's 2009 final four squad, including Scottie Reynolds and Dante Cunningham, will play on team ROBY, and players from Cornell's 2010 sweet 16 team have returned as team Cornell Sweet Sixteen.
Alumni from Wisconsin, Temple, Princeton, Maryland and Notre Dame also formed teams. Former Northwestern guard Michael Thompson will play on team PeacePlayers International. Other notables playing in TBT include Josh Selby, Dahntay Jones, Rashad McCants, Smush Parker, Sean Singletary, Josh Boone, Edgar Sosa and Aquille Carr.
To learn more about the teams, players and tournament, go to: http://www.thetournament.com
From June 6-8, the teams will play in a single-elimination bracket until there are just two teams left. Those teams will play the championship on June 28th for the $500,000 prize, with another fan vote determining which team hosts and the length of the shot clock.
When TBT rolls around, the college season will have been finished for over two months and the NBA Finals nearing conclusion. The Basketball Tournament in Philadelphia may be the number one place to get your hoops fix this summer.