Buffalo-Born Basketball Team Honors Shooting Victims In A Unique Way

There is a basketball tournament coming that you might have never heard of with a Buffalo team that will be honoring the Buffalo shooting victims.

The tournament is simply called TBT or "The Basketball Tournament."  It was created a few years ago with the idea that anyone could enter the tournament and there would be big money up for grabs.  It's a winner-take-all setup.  There is no second place.  It's not just a Gus Macker type of tournament.  These games are broadcast on ESPN and these players are hungry.

It's 64 teams.  It runs for just a few days in the middle of the summer every year.  This year it started on July 16th and will run through August 2nd.  The winner takes home $1 million.

TBT General Overview UPDATED.mp4 from The Basketball Tournament on Vimeo.

This year, there's a Buffalo team in the mix.  They're called Blue Collar U and they're a bunch of mostly former UB Basketball players.  You might recognize some of the names from their years on the court at Alumni arena.  It's people like CJ Massinburg, Lamonte Bearden, and Nick Perkins who were all part of some of the most successful UB Basketball teams of all time.

However, you won't see those names on the backs of their jersey at this tournament.  Instead, they will be playing with the names of the shooting victims of the Buffalo shooting on May 14th, 2022.

If you'd like to check them out, they have a game today on ESPN 3 as they take on NG Saints (a team representing Neumann Goretti High School from Philiadelphis).  You can also stream The Basketball Tournament on Sling TV, the official streaming partner of TBT.

Blue Collar U plans to donate a portion of their winnings to Coaching Love Inc., a non-profit started by GM Bryan Hodgson to help at-risk youth, particularly those in the foster care system, through sports.