With The Basketball Tournament right around the corner, let’s look back on Best Virginia’s various runs in the event.
Best Virginia will be entering The Basketball Tournament for the fifth time this summer, with their first game scheduled for July 20th at 3 p.m. In their four previous appearances, the team has a record of 7-4. Let’s break it down, year by year:
2019
Best Virginia made their debut in the 2019 edition of The Basketball Tournament as the fourth seed in the Richmond region. The original team was led by Jaysean Paige, Da’Sean Butler, Juwan Staten, Truck Bryant, along with Kevin Jones and John Flowers, who are both still with Best Virginia today.
The West Virginia alumni defeated the 5 seed Seven City Royalty in the first round of TBT. However, they lost starting point guard Juwan Staten to a wrist injury. The team then faced off against the 1-seeded four-time defending champions Overseas Elite in the second round. Kevin Jones led Best Virginia with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals in the match-up, but the Elite held Best Virginia at arms length for the majority of the game. The team could only climb out of so many double-digit deficits before they lost by a final score of 80-68.
Best Virginia didn’t play in the 2020 edition of The Basketball Tournament because organizers replaced them due to a positive COVID-19 test.
2021
The Basketball Tournament came to Charleston, West Virginia, and awarded Best Virginia the second seed in the West Virginia regional. This iteration of the team picked up some names who are still with Best Virginia today, including Sagaba Konate, Chase Harler, Teyvon Myers, and Tarik Phillip.
In the first round of the tournament, Best Virginia narrowly defeated 15 seed WoCo Showtime, the Wofford alumni team by a final score of 70-67. Kevin Jones played the hero in this match-up, sealing the win with a layup to reach the ELAM Ending. Jones’ team-high 18 points and game-high 13 rebounds were able to outlast Fletcher Magee’s three-pointer onslaught. The former all-time leader in NCAA three-pointers scored a game-high 21 points, going 5-for-7 beyond the arc in a losing effort.
Best Virginia faced off against 7 seed D2 in the second round, where they pulled away in the second half for a 63-51 win. Four players reached double digits for Best Virginia in the game, with Kevin Jones leading all scorers with 13 points.
In the regional semifinals, Best Virginia played against 6 seed Team 23, the alumni team for one of the newest Big 12 members today, Colorado. Despite holding a five-point lead going into the fourth quarter, Best Virginia sputtered and got outscored 22-9 to end the game with a 75-67 loss. Three players for Best Virginia put up double digit points but once again, Kevin Jones led the team in points with 14 and also led in rebounds with 7. Marcus Hall led Team 23 in the loss, putting up 20 points in the game.
2022
The Basketball Tournament returned to Charleston for it’s second straight year, and awarded Best Virginia the first seed in the region. Their first opponent was the 8 seed Virginia Dream, with its roster made of players with connections to the state of Virginia. Unsurprisingly, Kevin Jones led the way with 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds, and Best Virginia routed the Virginia Dream, 75-45. Only one Virginia Dream player, Ed Polite, reached double-digit points.
The second round of the tournament put Best Virginia against 4 seed Herd That, a team composed of Marshall alumni. Kevin Jones, John Flowers and Jermaine Haley tallied 17 points apiece en route to a 89-79 victory over the in-state rivals. Best Virginia led by as many as 21 points during the game and used that momentum to cruise to a 10-point win. Herd That struggled to shoot from beyond the arc in the match-up, only hitting 21% of their threes.
The third round marked Best Virginia’s first ever regional finals appearance, with a chance to advance to the TBT quarterfinals in Dayton, Ohio. In their way was the 2-seeded Bucketneers, a team comprised of East Tennessee State alumni. It was a back and forth affair, with Best Virginia leading by five at halftime but the lead trading hands throughout the third quarter. Best Virginia led by just one point heading into the fourth quarter, where baskets came at a premium. When the ELAM ending reached 63 points, Best Virginia went on a 6-0 scoring streak, bringing them one basket away from the target score and leading 61-55. However, the offense stalled, allowing the Bucketneers to come back and regain the lead, 62-61. With the game on the line, Kevin Jones received the ball in the middle of the paint, spun around his defender, and laid in the game winning shot with a swish. Jones and Jamel Morris were the only two Best Virginia players to reach double figures, scoring 10 points each. Desonta Bradford’s 22 points led all scorers in the losing effort for the Bucketneers.
In the quarterfinals, Best Virginia faced off against the 3-seeded Red Scare from the Dayton regional, made up of Dayton alumni. It was a back and forth affair, with seven ties and 13 lead changes, but the offense sputtered out during the ELAM ending. Best Virginia’s first two possessions with the ending in effect resulted in turnovers, and the following three were all missed three-pointers. It all lead to the Red Scare winning by a score of 67-60, ending Best Virginia’s deepest TBT run to date. Scoochie Smith tallied a game-high 17 points along with eight assists for the Red Scare in the victory.
2023
The West Virginia Regional moved from Charleston to Wheeling, West Virginia in 2023. Best Virginia was now represented from the 2010 Final Four team with Jones and Flowers, through the Press Virginia era with Harler, Nathan Adrian and Teyvon Myers, to a more modern representation of the program with new additions and recent alumni Sean McNeil, Kedrian Johnson, and last-minute addition Erik Stevenson, who had just finished playing for the San Antonio Spurs in Las Vegas as part of the NBA’s Summer League. Best Virginia was once again designated as the 1 seed.
In the first round of the regional, Best Virginia faced 8-seeded DuBois Dream, a team based out of DuBois, Pennsylvania. Another tight contest saw the Dream threatening an upset throughout the matchup. DuBois Dream almost took a lead into halftime before John Flowers buried a three and Kevin Jones worked the post to put Best Virginia up one. The WVU alumni then created separation in the third quarter with an eight-point lead but watched it slowly fade away until the teams tied at 62 with the ELAM ending announced at 70 points. Stevenson hit a three, but DuBois Dream rattled off two baskets to put them ahead 66-65. Nathan Adrian answered with a bucket, but two Dream free throws and they led 68-67. On Best Virginia’s final possession, Teyvon Myers lofted a pass to Jones, who was posted against a defender along the left side of the three-point line. As Jones caught the ball, Stevenson streaked across the court and behind the defender, receiving Jones’s hand-off. Stevenson took two steps to his right, squared up, and shot the game winner from beyond the arc. Best Virginia survived the DuBois Dream by a score of 70-68. In the aftermath, Stevenson pointed to West Virginia Head Coach Bob Huggins, who was sitting ten rows into the stands behind the Best Virginia bench.
The second round saw Best Virginia’s second game against Herd That in The Basketball Tournament. While Best Virginia jumped out to a 13-4 lead early, the Herd closed the gap by the end of the first quarter, only trailing 18-13. The teams tied at 27 shortly before halftime, with Best Virginia scoring the final three points of the half to lead 30-27. The game was a true back-and-forth affair, with each lead quickly demolished. However, a 14-0 scoring run by the Herd through the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth sealed Best Virginia’s fate. With the target score set at 72, it took Herd That only six minutes of game time to reach the clinching score. In the fourth quarter, Best Virginia shot 1-for-16 from the field, struggling to find any offensive consistency. Kevin Jones led Best Virginia with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Jamel Morris also did well in the losing effort, scoring 13 points.
Looking Ahead To 2024
The 2024 Best Virginia roster has seen some interesting developments leading up to the tournament. Long time staples of the team Chase Harler and Kevin Jones have moved into coaching roles for the team, with Harler serving as the team’s head coach. Taz Sherman also joins the team for the first time, being the most recent alumni to play with the Mountaineers. He played in the Coliseum from 2019-22. After Sherman, there’s a wealth of players from the Press Virginia era. These include Esa Ahmad, Wesley Harris, Jonathan Holton, Teyvon Myers, Tarik Phillip, and two returning players in Sagaba Konate and Devin Williams. All of them played in Morgantown between 2014 and 2019. The final two members of the roster is not a West Virginia alumni – rather, Xavier Bledson played at Indiana State from 2022-24, and Marcus Keene played at Youngstown State and Central Michigan from 2013-17. Along with leading all of Division I in scoring during his junior year, Keene is a TBT veteran, playing in 17 tournament games. He last played for Sideline Cancer in the tournament and was signed to Best Virginia Friday afternoon.
The 3-seeded Best Virginia will face 6-seeded Brotherly Love, a Pro-Am League out of Philadelphia, in the first round of the Pittsburgh regional. If they are victorious, they will play either the 2-seeded Zoo Crew in a Backyard Brawl or the 7-seeded Million $ Worth of Game, also representing the Philadelphia area.
In the Pittsburgh region the 1-seeded Stars of Storrs, a new team in The Basketball Tournament, consist of UConn alumni. Other notable teams in the region include the 4-seeded DuBois Dream and the 5-seeded Happy Valley Hoopers, with alumni from Penn State. While the Dream have yet to win a game in TBT, they were a tough challenge for Best Virginia last year.
Regardless of how they perform, Best Virginia is a great watch for Mountaineer fans wanting to see their favorite players from various eras of West Virginia basketball. Tune into their first game of the tournament on July 20th at 3 p.m. Best Virginia will soon begin their climb towards the $1 million dollar prize.
