Backyard Brawl to Potentially Headline TBT Wheeling Regional

Pitt basketball’s alumni team, Zoo Crew, announced on Tuesday that they would be competing in TBT this summer. TBT confirmed that the Panthers will be playing in the Wheeling regional, which is hosted by WVU’s alumni team, Best Virginia.

It appears that TBT will look to set up an alumni Backyard Brawl matchup this July.

The Zoo Crew’s roster includes Gary McGhee, Gilbert Brown, Mohamadou Gueye, Jamel Artis, Ryan Luther, Nelly Cummings, Nike Sibande, Greg Elliott and Mike Young. Cummings, Sibande and Elliott played in the most recent edition of the Backyard Brawl, which West Virginia won 81-56.

Brown, former Pitt guard and current Director of Player & Alumni Development, will serve as the team’s general manager and head coach.

PITT IS BACK IN TBT‼️

A @Pitt_MBB alumni team has officially entered a team for TBT 2023😱@ZooCrewTBT’s initial roster is LOADED and it even includes 3 players from this year’s Pitt team (Nelly Cummings, Nike Sibande & Greg Elliott)⤵️⤵️⤵️ pic.twitter.com/5kjTE4lSQc

— TBT (@thetournament) May 23, 2023

Best Virginia will host their first regional in Wheeling at WesBanco Arena this summer. Best Virginia reached the Elite-8 of the 64-team field tournament last year, advancing all the way to Dayton. The WVU alumni-based team has confirmed that Kevin Jones, John Flowers, Nathan Adrain and Kedrian Johnson will play this year. The Wheeling regional runs from July 25, 27, 29-30.

TBT, otherwise known as The Basketball Tournament, is a basketball tournament every July which includes a $1 million prize for the winning team. Best Virginia has participated in the event in 2019, 2021-2023.