TBT championship weekend preview: Kentucky, Ohio State alum headline semifinals
And then there were four.
What started as a 64-team pursuit for $1 million is down to just a quartet of fitting candidates playing for The Basketball Tournament prize this weekend in Philly, and there are many interesting storylines heading into the semifinals.
How about a matchup between former consensus first-team All-Americans and first-round NBA Draft picks when Carmen’s Crew star Jared Sullinger squares off with La Familia leader Willie Cauley-Stein? There’s also the hottest guard at this event — Houston great Rob Gray, who's the leading scorer of the remaining teams at 20.5 points per game — charging his Forever Coogs team against an original at the event and a team that reflects what makes TBT special, Eberlein Drive.
Here’s the complete semifinals schedule:
- Friday 8/2: Forever Coogs (Houston alumni) vs. Eberlein Drive (7 p.m. ET on FS1) in Philadelphia
- Friday 8/2: La Familia (Kentucky alumni) vs. Carmen’s Crew (Ohio State alumni) (9 p.m. ET on FS1) in Philadelphia
- Sunday 8/4: TBT Championship Game (2 p.m. ET on FOX) in Philadelphia
Here’s what to watch for in the semifinals.
Semifinal betting odds
- Forever Coogs is favored (-122) to beat Eberlein Drive. The Over/Under in their matchup is 148.5.
- La Familia is favored (-132) to beat Carmen's Crew. The Over/Under in their matchup is 147.5
Stars to watch
Obviously, the matchup between Sullinger and Cauley-Stein is the headliner. The 7-foot Cauley-Stein, the 2015 SEC Defensive Player of the Year who helped power Kentucky to an historic 38-1 season in 2014-15, said he wanted to feel the love from Big Blue Nation again when he decided to participate in TBT for the first time. The 30-year-old showed yet again why he’s a fan favorite, extending his personal streak against rival Louisville to five when La Familia beat The Ville, 70-61, in front of a TBT record 13,506 fans on Monday night at Freedom Hall.
[Related: Kentucky, Ohio State alumni teams advance following memorable night of TBT action]
What has been fascinating about Cauley-Stein has been the addition of a new trick to his arsenal: the ability to hit shots from beyond the arc. Get this: he did not attempt a single 3-pointer in his college or professional career. He started 3-for-3 from downtown in the first half alone in Monday’s win, all part of a 22-point performance. Combine his production with the hot shooting of Nate Sestina — who played at Kentucky in 2019-20 after transferring from Bucknell, and who had 22 points on six triples on Monday — and La Familia is the best team in this field if they get that level of perimeter shooting.
As for Carmen’s Crew, Sullinger is playing in TBT after coaching the Ohio State alumni to the 2019 championship in the event. The 32-year-old, who played five years in the NBA before heading overseas and being named Chinese Basketball MVP this past year, was convinced by his three kids to put on scarlet and gray again and suit up for the Buckeyes. At 6-foot-9, 260 pounds, Sullinger has averaged 9.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per game and been a driving force in the Ohio State alumni’s second all-time run to the semifinals.
With a well-balanced attack of five players averaging at least 9.0 points per game, and brothers Andre and Kaleb Wesson helping to charge an offense that buried 16 triples in the quarterfinal rout of Takeover BC, Carmen’s Crew has multiple options to get them a bucket: a high-level pro in Sullinger and a dynamic guard in Desonta Bradford to steer the ship.
La Familia’s star watch, though, goes far beyond Cauley-Stein. Part of John Calipari’s first recruiting class at Kentucky, 34-year-old Eric Bledsoe has been phenomenal in TBT. The 12-year NBA veteran and two-time All-NBA Defensive Team selection has dictated the guard's play in all four of La Familia’s wins, averaging 15.5 points and 4.8 assists per game.
But the marquee Kentucky names don’t stop there, with the Harrison Twins, Aaron and Andrew, coming up big for this team as shotmakers. The duo has combined for more than 18 points per game, with Andrew hitting the Elam Ending game-winner on Monday. His brother Aaron is most known for his legendary game-winners a decade ago against Michigan and Wisconsin in the Elite Eight and Final Four.
The best player for La Familia and maybe the most impactful player in TBT, though, has been Kerem Kanter, a former Xavier star who was part of the Musketeers’ Zip Em Up TBT team in recent years but moved on to Lexington to try to win the $1 million this season. Averaging 18.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while shooting 67% from the floor, he is a Swiss Army knife for La Familia. The job former All-American and Bob Cousy award winner Tyler Ulis, who will be on Calipari’s staff at Arkansas once he’s done at TBT, has done in coaching La Familia can’t be overstated. Ulis could be a head coach in his future — a big part of the beauty of TBT, which has been an audition for guys trying to get back to the NBA level or receive a contract overseas.
Turning to Friday night’s semifinal opener, Rob Gray has been as good as anybody in TBT, delivering 23 points on 11 of 15 from the floor in Tuesday’s 74-49 victory over Team Colorado.
A two-time first-team All-American Athletic Conference selection, the 30-year-old Gray scored 1,710 points in his Houston career, good for the conference’s all-time scoring record at the time of his graduation, and was an integral part in laying the foundation for what Kelvin Sampson has built over the last decade with the Cougars. This past winter, Gray, the 2021 EuroCup Finals MVP while with Monaco in France, called Sampson and vocalized how much he wanted to build a TBT team with all the recent alumni to have accomplished greatness at Houston. Now, the first-year Forever Coogs team is two wins shy of $1 million. One X-factor star to watch: Fabian White, the winningest player in Houston history with 121 wins, who made his TBT debut Tuesday off the bench in the victory, gives Forever Coogs another 6-8 versatile option on a team of matchup nightmares that also features former six-year NBA/G League pro Melvin Frazier (Tulane) in the backcourt.
Feel good story of TBT: Eberlein Drive
A decade ago, Jacob Hirschmann and his friends decided to give the first edition of TBT a chance, entering the 32-team field for a $500,000 prize. Hirschmann named his team Eberlein Drive, a dead-end street in Fraser, Michigan — a suburb just a few miles north of Detroit, which was the street Hirschmann and his friends grew up on. Hirschmann, then a player, was dunked on and sent to the hospital after getting banged up on the play, and Eberlein Drive was a first-round exit.
If you think that was a cause for them to never return to TBT, think again. Hirschmann, a lawyer, along with co-general manager Matt Mitchell, a healthcare consultant who had another team in the first year of TBT, elected to join forces and take Eberlein Drive to the next level. Six years ago, Eberlein Drive reached the championship game but was defeated by TBT dynasty Overseas Elite, who won their fourth straight title in 2018. After first-round exits the past two years, some in TBT circles thought that perhaps Eberlein Drive would close up shop. But this organization has forged on, hiring a G League head coach in Jordan Surenkamp to lead the team, which is run like a professional squad, and having a group that’s ranked eighth out of 64 teams averaging 83.5 points per game, the best remaining offense in the field.
The star to watch: Jake Stephens, who flew from NBA Summer League in Las Vegas to be with the team for the Butler region final and has notched back-to-back Elam Ending game-winners. Scoring close to 2,000 points in his college career at Virginia Military Institute and Chattanooga, Stephens is a 7-footer with a 7-10 wingspan, hence why he’s been spending time getting looks from NBA organizations and was with the Hornets Summer League team (10.6 PPG, 6.4 RPG, shot 50% FG).
With five players averaging at least 13 points per game, including Anthony Clemmons and Tyler Stone, this team’s depth is its best asset.
My Predictions
- Semifinals: Forever Coogs over Eberlein Drive, La Familia over Carmen’s Crew
- Championship Game: La Familia over Forever Coogs
I really like Forever Coogs' ability to defend, with their 49 points allowed to Team Colorado as the lowest point total of the entire tournament thus far. The complementary shotmaking of Devin Davis, Frazier and White is so important for Forever Coogs, particularly when so much defensive attention is on Gray, who’s been the Kemba Walker à la 2011 Big East/NCAA Tournament of TBT.
But I can’t see anybody beating Bledsoe, Cauley-Stein, Sestina, Kanter, the Harrisons and La Familia. This team loaded up on star power to avenge the last time Kentucky had an alumni team in 2019, when the brand was humiliated by a Division II TBT team in the biggest upset in the event’s history. This weekend, redemption is happening in Philly. La Familia will be too talented and too tough behind the engineer in Bledsoe and a full arsenal of shotmaking and rebounding.
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him at @John_Fanta.
