Two basketball teams comprised of former players from Utah have qualified for The Basketball Tournament, after voting ended Thursday.
The tournament, or TBT, begins play with the TBT Jamboree, a play-in tournament for the teams that qualify on Saturday, June 17 and Sunday, June 18, with 64 teams vying for a shot at $2 million in a 5-on-5 basketball tournament.
Two teams with heavy Utah connections, Team Fredette and the Wasatch Front, have qualified for the tournament's West region based on fan voting.
Team Fredette will be coached by former BYU star Jimmer Fredette, and will feature two former BYU basketball players, power forward Brandon Davies and small forward Charles Abouo. A slew of other former D-1 basketball players make up the rest of the roster. Fredette could decide to play on the team as well.
Jimmer's father Al Fredette and brother TJ Fredette are also listed as coaches, as is Blair Giles, the president of the Fredette Family Foundation.
The Wasatch Front boasts NBA star point guard Damian Lillard as a coach, and is built primarily on former Weber State Wildcats.
Former Wildcats on the team include point guard Kellen McCoy (also the team’s GM), shooting guard Scott Bamforth, shooting guard Davion Berry, shooting guard Daviin Davis, center Steve Panos, power forward David Patten, center Kyle Tresnak and point guard Brody Van Brocklin.
Though team Utah, which made the quarterfinals of last year's tournament, was not voted to one of the nine automatic qualifiers by fans, the team could still make the field of 64, through an "at-large" bid.
Six teams are chosen for these bids, which the tournament's organizers determine to be “the most interesting/notable players, best stories, or people who have played TBT before that we know and respect.”
The Utah Alumni team is made up primarily of former Ute players, led by general manager/power forward Shaun Green. It also includes former Utes Lawrence Borha at shooting guard, point guard Tim Drisdom, small forward Bryant Markson and shooting guard Dakarai Tucker.
Some of the other team's players are small forward Justin Hawkins of New Mexico State, who started his college career at Utah, small forward Peter Brown of Utah Valley University and shooting guard Richard Chaney from Troy, who also started his college career at Utah.
Rounds 1 and 2 of the West region will be played July 15 and 16, and will be streamable on ESPN3/WatchESPN. TBT concludes with a winner-take-all championship for $2 million on Aug. 3.