Excitement Building for TBT’s Wheeling Tip-Off
Trending
WHEELING -- The excitement is starting to build as the $1 million, winner-take-all The Basketball Tournament released the eight-team bracket and first-round matchups Wednesday for its West Virginia Regional.
That part of the tournament -- which will feature alumni teams from West Virginia University, Marshall and the University of Pittsburgh, among others -- will be played July 25-30 at Wheeling's WesBanco Arena.
The bracket begins on Tuesday, July 25 and continues through the championship contest on Saturday, July 29.
TBT will also host a quarterfinal game at the downtown venue on Sunday, July 30, between the West Virginia Regional winner and the Syracuse Regional winner.
All games will be televised live on the ESPN networks.
Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott said Wednesday can't wait for the ball to tip in the Friendly City.
"It's a wonderful thing to see this facility be used for a tournament like this," the mayor said. "Over the prior couple of decades, this facility has seen a lot of investment. Really, that set the stage for the announcement of the TBT coming here in the first place, and now, with the release of the matchups and a lot of alumni teams from around the region, we're going to a couple thousand people converging on Wheeling for a couple of days."
It will be a busy weekend in the city. Not only will the TBT's West Virginia Regional be happening, but so will the Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage Festival a short distance away at Heritage Port, as well as the Grecian Festival at St. John The Divine Orthodox Church on Chapline Street.
And the city's Downtown Streetscape Project, which has closed lanes and intersections around downtown, is going on at the same time.
"I just hope our current Streetscape Project does not get in the way," he said. "I know the DOH is determining ways for people to keep coming and going without many mix-ups. I stress to people to just be patient."
Best Virginia assistant general manager Greg Richardson is also happy the TBT is in The Friendly City.
"John Flowers and I have been working together on this for the last nine summers," he said. "I think it's going to be great playing here in Wheeling. It gives the people in the northern part of the state a chance to see the tournament. If a team has to fly in, the Pittsburgh airport is only an hour away. Wheeling is also about an hour from Morgantown.
"Playing in Charleston was great, but I think we're going to pack the place here," Richardson continued. "I think there will be a lot of sellouts."
That is good news for the entire Ohio Valley as hotels/motels will see an uptick in business, as will local restaurants and eateries and retail shops.
Top-seeded Best Virginia, which advanced to the semifinals last summer before bowing out, plays its first game on Tuesday, July 25 at 7 p.m. against No. 8 Dubois Dream, which secured its spot in the West Virginia Regional via buy-in.
As of today, Best Virginia's roster is filled with former West Virginia University Mountaineers, including Kevin Jones, who also attended Wednesday's announcement, John Flowers, Jaysean Paige, Nathan Adrian, Teyvon Myers and Kedrian Johnson.
Best Virginia's opening opponent, Dubois Dream, features some familiar faces to Ohio Valley basketball fans. Former West Liberty University star Dalton Bolon is listed as part of the team on its website, as is former Bethany College player Chance Wright.
Richardson admitted that he, nor anybody connected with Best Virginia, knows much about their opening foe.
"I've seen their roster. They look like a bunch of good shooters," Richardson said. "They look to have a lot of (NCAA) D-II and small D-I school guys. No game is easy in the TBT."
Marshall's alumni team, fourth-seeded Herd That, will include the top two scorers in Thundering Herd history, No. 1 scorer Taevion Kinsey and No. 2 scorer Jon Elmore. The rest of the field includes Zoo Crew, the fifth-seeded Pitt alumni team, Dawg Town, the sixth-seeded Georgetown alumni team, Ram Nation, the seventh-seeded Virginia Commonwealth University alumni team, No. 2 seed Sideline Cancer and No. 3 seed Challenge ALS: Florida.
"With alumni teams you usually get a good following. The Zoo Crew always gets a good following from the Pittsburgh area and Herd That always travels well from Marshall," Richardson noted. "There's that rivalry region and that tends to make for bigger crowds."
"Everybody wants us to get all WVU alumni, but sometimes we just can't get them. We have some alumni that are playing for other teams," Richardson explained.
Richardson said he has looked at every team's roster to see who might be available.
"If a team doesn't make it into the TBT, you can always pick up players from their team and they are already in the TBT system, so it's easier to pick them up."
Other opening-round games include Challenge ALS: Florida versus Dawg Town (2 p.m., July 25), Ram Nation versus Sideline Cancer (4 p.m., July 25) and Herd That versus Zoo Crew (9 p.m., July 25).