Schenley grads seek 3-peat, $2M in lucrative basketball tournament
The last time D.J. Kennedy, DeAndre Kane and DeJuan Blair played a competitive basketball game together, they hoisted the 2007 PIAA trophy for Schenley.
Ten years later, the reunion is on, but it's not just for fun. There's $2 million up for grabs.
The fourth edition of The Basketball Tournament — a 5-on-5, winner-take all, March Madness-style event — tips off July 8, and teams ranging from Pitt alumni outfit Zoo Crew to the for-charity club Sideline Cancer are gunning to stop the prize from again going to two-time champion Overseas Elite, the Schenley alums' squad.
Kennedy has been one of the core players with Overseas Elite, along with his former St. John's teammate Paris Horne, ex-Arizona man Kyle Fogg and Errick McCollum II, the older brother of Portland Trailblazers star C.J. McCollum. Last year, Kennedy helped add Kane to the fold, and this year, Blair and his eight seasons of NBA experience come aboard.
“It's about connections in basketball, and my relationship with (Blair) goes way back. We're happy to have a player of his caliber, and I think he's hungry to show he's still an NBA player,” Kennedy said. “Each year is pretty special, and we've got an opportunity to go for a three-peat. We're probably looking forward to it more this year and preparing more because we know what's at stake.”
The need for preparation is a reflection of the way The Basketball Tournament has grown.
It began as a smaller event with a $500,000 prize won by Notre Dame alumni in 2014, but in just three years, the prize has quadrupled, quality of competition has been raised and ESPN acquired its broadcast rights. The tournament remains an open-entry competition, and online fan voting, past performances and a play-in jamboree helped finalize the 64-team field.
Overseas Elite holds the top seed in the South region playing in Charlotte, N.C., and in the East region played in Philadelphia, the Zoo Crew has the No. 5 seed and plenty of familiar faces to Pitt fans.
Levance Fields, Ashton Gibbs, Ronald Ramon and Chevon Troutman are a few of the notable ex-Panthers hoping to make a run in this year's tournament after a regional final finish for The Untouchables — the team Pitt alumni played for last year. The Untouchables, featuring former Panthers guard Antonio Graves, return as the No. 1 seed in the East. Fields was one of the starters for The Untouchables last year, and the shared experience of playing under Jamie Dixon should provide continuity for the Zoo Crew.
“There are a couple guys on different teams. Gil (Brown) got hurt, and we don't have Brad (Wanamaker), so there's a new cast of characters,” Fields said. “I believe the way we play and that we're all familiar with each other will be an advantage for us. It helped last year when we won three games, and it's definitely big that we all played for Coach Dixon.”
All teams in The Basketball Tournament have a coach and general manager, and the Zoo Crew stuck to its Pittsburgh roots by bringing on Allderdice coach Buddy Valinsky — an easy pickup for GM Aron Minkoff, one of Valinsky's former students.
“I'm very excited. I've never coached college kids, and really, these guys are men now. They've all played big-time basketball in the Big East and as pros, so my job is just to be an extra set of eyes and help send in subs,” Valinsky said. “For me, it's just going to be fun coaching some great, older players.”
The Zoo Crew's first opponent, 12th-seeded Sideline Cancer, is one of four teams to have been in every edition of The Basketball Tournament and has been as far as the round of 16. Playing for the Hollidaysburg-based Griffith Family Foundation for pancreatic cancer research, Sideline Cancer maintained its Pittsburgh ties this year by adding Franklin Regional and Pitt-Johnstown alum Nick Novak, who has been playing professionally in Portugal.
“It's cool because I'm from Pittsburgh, and I've played against a lot of those guys over the years,” Novak said. “Levance Fields was always the most impressive in the pro-am (summer league), and when I was a freshman at UPJ, our coach had us going down to Pitt for strength and conditioning, and Ronald Ramon was my partner for a lot of that. He was such a good scorer. I looked up to him a lot.”
Novak has played in the tournament for other teams, but joining Sideline Cancer has extra meaning for him this year.
“My dad was diagnosed with throat cancer while I was playing last season, but luckily, it's very curable. He went through chemo and radiation, and he's been five or six months clear,” Novak said. “You do want to play and win some money, but to try and win $700,000 of it for the Griffith Foundation is a great cause.”
The tournament's first two rounds are played July 8-9 and 15-16 before the regional semifinals and finals will be played in Brooklyn, N.Y., on July 22-23. The semifinals are Aug. 1, and the final is Aug. 3 in Baltimore. All games from the regional semis onward will be shown on ESPN networks, a fact not lost on many players still harboring NBA dreams.
“It keeps getting bigger and bigger,” Kennedy said. “With the ESPN exposure and the interviews going on before, you can go just about anywhere in the world and people know about the tournament. This really is the tournament of the summer. Bigger names want to play in it, and because there's money on the line and a chance to get seen, guys are playing so much harder.”
Matt Grubba is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mgrubba@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Grubba_Trib.
