Auburn basketball returns this summer, kind of. War Tampa, a basketball team filled with four Auburn alumni: Horace Spencer, Bryce Brown, Laron Smith and Desean Murray made the cut for The Basketball Tournament or TBT. War Tampa was one of 24 teams selected out of the 120 team field.
War Tampa, who changed their name from Tampa 20/20, is a third-year participant in TBT.
Eight more former Auburn basketball players join the team as supporters to help cover travel and practice costs.The supporters group includes: CJ Holmes, KT Harrell, Austin Wiley, Chuma Okeke, Marquis Daniels, TJ Lang, Mustapha Heron and New Williams.
Rosters aren’t finalized, so War Tampa could potentially gain more Auburn alumni before the tournament starts.
TBT was founded in 2014 for 64 basketball teams to compete for $2 million in a winner-take-all tournament. Because of the Covid-19 restrictions on sports, this year’s field will feature 24-teams in a single-elimination tournament. The payout for the 24-team variation of The Basketball Tournament is $1 million due to the smaller field.
If War Tampa wins the whole tournament, their winning shares would be $100,000 for Bryce Brown, Horace Spencer and Laron Smith but Desean Murray’s winning share would be $120,000.
The tournament is hosted in Columbus, OH and every game will air on ESPN. TBT starts on July 4th and 5th for the opening round of 24. The round of 16 will be played between July 6th and 9th. The quarterfinals are played on July 10th and 11th with the Semifinals on the 12th. After a full day of rest, the championship game will be featured on Tuesday, July 14th.
War Tampa was selected as the No. 17 seed and will play House of ‘Paign in the round of 24 to open their play. The time of the game is still undetermined. If War Tampa wins, they will move on to play defending champions, Carmen's Crew, in the round of 16.
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