Colorado University Athletics
Team Colorado Opens TBT Training Camp In Boulder
June 30, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — One year after just missing a $2 million payday, Team Colorado — a collection of Buffs alums — is back once again to give chase to the championship of The Basketball Tournament.
There's no reason to think that goal is unattainable. Along with the core of players who last year carried Team Colorado to the TBT title game, they have added several new faces that should strengthen Colorado at every position.
"Absolutely we're better," said guard Marcus Hall, a member of last year's TBT All-Tournament team. "At the wing we're better, we're better at the guard position and our bigs are better. We're just deeper everywhere."
Simply put, TBT is a winner-take-all five-on-five tournament open to just about anyone. A 64-team bracket will begin play in early July at four sites around the country, with the Super 16 and regional championships set for play July 20-23 in Brooklyn and the semifinals and championship set for Aug. 1 and 3 in Baltimore.
The champions get a $2 million check to split among the team. Everyone else gets the experience of playing in the tournament.
This will be the third year for Colorado in the TBT. After falling in its first game in 2015, Colorado won five games last year before falling to Overseas Elite in the title game. Every player on Team Colorado's roster suited up for the Buffs at one time in their careers, and all have experience playing professionally.
This year, Colorado is the No. 1 seed in the West and will open play the weekend of July 15-16 vs. the Kimchi Express in Las Vegas. All of the games in the tournament will be televised on ESPN (7 games), ESPN2 (8 games) and ESPN3/WatchESPN (48 games).
"Obviously, winning the whole thing is the goal," said former CU player and Team Colorado general manager Beau Gamble. "The reality is we set the bar and we set the standard last year. When you bring in the same core group of guys and you add more firepower, the standard just got raised again."
Returnees from last year's team include Hall, Dominique Coleman, Marcus Relphorde, Austin Dufault, Richard Roby, Shannon Sharpe, Calvin Williams and head coach Dwight Thorne II. That core group took Colorado to the championship game.
This year, however, they've strengthened the lineup considerably. Newcomers include former NBA player Chris Copeland, recent graduate Josh Scott, Michel Morandais, Xavier Silas and James "Mookie" Wright.
"You bring in Cope and Josh, that's adding to the bigs," Hall said. "You bring in Xavier and Michel, that's adding to the wings. Then you bring in a veteran like Mookie and that adds to the guards. I don't think there's any doubt we should be better."
But while the goal is — obviously — to collect the winning paycheck, the atmosphere at Thursday afternoon's practice (the first of five over a three-day training camp) also had the strong feeling of a reunion. Players who hadn't seen each other for years caught up with each other, and they all had a chance to see the current Buffs practice before the alums hit the floor.
"I think it's awesome to be here," said Copeland, who played overseas after leaving Colorado before enjoying a four-year stint in the NBA. "I couldn't be happier about getting the chance to play. We all know we're here to win the tournament, but I think I'm more excited about being around these guys and getting a chance to play with all these guys from different eras. TBT is really a blessing because it's reuniting guys and helping other guys get the chance to play with players they knew of but never got to play with. It's really beautiful to see all this coming together."
And that might be the bigger part of the picture. While the immediate goal is to win a title, Gamble's long-term aim is to continue to build the "brand" of Colorado basketball and help players from all eras connect.
"We brought all these guys back to Boulder to training camp so they could connect with each other and connect with the current guys," Gamble said. "It's about continuing to build the brand and family, whether you are 36 and played here 15 years ago or you're 21 and play here now."
Last year, current CU head coach Tad Boyle hosted a barbecue at his house for Team Colorado. Boyle is out of town this year, helping coach the USA Basketball U-19 team in the World Cup in Egypt. But he's made sure that his assistants and current players know how important it is to connect with the players from the past.
Those connections aren't hard to find. A year ago, Hall was impressed with a virtually unknown Buff who had transferred into the program and was preparing to play his first — and only — season with Colorado.
The two struck up a relationship and they stayed connected throughout the season. When Derrick White became an NBA Draft first-round pick last week by the San Antonio Spurs, Hall was among those to congratulate him.
Now, Hall said CU once again feels like "home."
"They make you feel very welcome here," Hall said. "I've been up here playing pickup with these guys for the last few months and they treat me like I'm on the team. I want all the other guys who come here to play in the TBT to get that same feeling. Once they get to know all the other guys and the current players, it will be great for them, too."
Hall credits Boyle with helping foster that "family" culture.
"It gives me chills to think I have the chance to be part of it," Hall said. "We're bringing everybody together. We have the right guy in Coach Boyle at the helm. He's a guy who wants to have a relationship with guys who graduated 15 years ago. It's helping us develop relationships with all these different eras and generations and we're bringing Colorado basketball together. It's really a special feeling."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
