Deshawn Freeman, Playing for Jimmy V to take part in TBT in July
Do you miss basketball?
The Basketball Tournament, which started in the summer of 2014, will begin on July 4 and a champion will be crowned 10 days later on July 14. It is the first live televised hoops in the United States since March when the coronavirus pandemic shut down sports.
All games will take place with no fans at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Oh., but everyone can watch on ESPN. The 24-team bracket, featuring a single-elimination format, will be revealed on June 16. The winning team will take home $1 million.
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Former Rutgers forward Deshawn Freeman is set to suit up for Playing for Jimmy V, a team that's featured various Scarlet Knight alumni in the past. Freeman, Corey Sanders, and CJ Gettys played for the squad a year ago in the 64-team field.
Freeman averaged 11.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in his senior season "On the Banks" in 2017-18. Sanders was going to play point guard again for Jimmy V, which lost in the first round last summer, but he signed to play overseas in Poland and won't be able to make it.
"It means a lot (to be able to play). To be the first basketball back since the stoppages is going be an awesome experience," said Jimmy V general manager Alex Neumann, a former Rutgers men's basketball manager. "Our guys have been itching to play for months now, so everybody is really excited. Having no fans in the arena will be quite the adjustment, but I think it will be interesting to watch from the viewers' perspective as UFC and German soccer have been."
Players and staff members will be tested multiple times for COVID-19 throughout the tournament with teams arriving five days prior to the start of it.
"We have all been laying low, trying to quarantine as much as we can leading up to this. There is going to be extensive testing for everybody involved for players, coaches, and staff," Neumann said. "The event has been cut down from 64 to 24, making the rosters some of the best rosters in TBT history. It should be really interesting to have all 24 teams in the same location as well."
Playing for Jimmy V was previously known as Team uKnighted in 2017 when former Rutgers greats Myles Mack, Kadeem Jack, Dane Miller, Gettys, Omari Grier, and Jerome Coleman were on the roster.
The Round of 24 will go on from July 4-5, the Round of 16 will be held from July 6-9, the quarterfinals will take place from July 10 -11, the semifinals will tip-off on July 12, and the championship will take place on July 14.
Neumann likes the makeup of the team and feels Playing for Jimmy V has a shot at taking home the title and the money.
"We love the roster we've put together," Neumann said. "We have a ton of high level experience on this team whether it be NBA, EuroLeague, EuroCup, or G League. This is going to be the most competitive year yet for TBT, but with the roster we have coming in, we think we can really make a run at this thing."
You can read more about the team here. Stay tuned for the bracket reveal and see who Playing for Jimmy V will get in the opening round.
