MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Best Virginia and Herd That have been drawn into the same half of the bracket of the West Virginia Regional for The Basketball Tournament. 16 teams will compete at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center from July 17-21. Those teams will be split into two brackets, with two teams moving on to the national quarterfinals in Dayton, Ohio from July 31-August 3. A million dollar prize awaits the championship team.
Best Virginia, the WVU alumni squad is the No. 2 seed in the regional and will face No. 15 Woco Showtime, which is a Wofford alumni team, in the opening round. That game will be televised by ESPN July 17 at 2 p.m.
Herd That, the Marshall alumni team, is the No. 3 seed and they have drawn No. 14 seed Team DRC. That will be the opening game of the regional at noon and will also be televised by ESPN.
Best Virginia advanced to the second round of the 2019 tournament and was unable to compete last summer due to COVID protocols. Herd That advanced to the quarterfinal round in the 2020 tournament.
If Best Virginia and Herd That win their first two games, they will meet in the round of 16 on July 21 for a spot in the national quarterfinals.
?OFFICIAL?: The West Virginia Regional bracket & schedule are set!
?: https://t.co/HKhQV5lQau pic.twitter.com/Qk4yuAqGuo
— TBT (@thetournament) June 21, 2021
Best Virginia is scheduled to play exhibition games in Beckley (July 7) and Wheeling (July 9). The squad will train in Morgantown prior to the start of the TBT.
“It is a lot of fun just being able to come back and being a product of the program they have now. Coach Huggs has done a great job of building the culture at WVU with allowing players to be able to come back and use the practice facility and use all the amenities they have there,” said Best Virginia general manager and forward John Flowers.
“I think it is great for recruiting. When the recruits come in in the summertime and see all the older guys there, they know that this is a place they can call home.”
Committed players for Best Virginia are: Alex Ruoff, Chase Harler, Jaysean Paige, Flowers, Jonathan Holton, Juwan Staten, Kevin Jones, Nathan Adrian, Sagaba Konate, Tarik Phillip, Logan Routt and Teyvon Myers. James Long is the head coach. Dave Tallman and Da’Sean Butler complete the staff.
Committed players for Herd That are: Darin Johnson, Derek Cooke, Jacorey Williams, James Kelly, Jon & Ot Elmore, Rondale Watson, Santino DiTrapano and Stevie Browning. Ot Elmore believes a potential Best Virginia-Herd That regional final would be a tough ticket to get in Charleston.
“I honestly think they could sell that place out,” said Elmore. “There’s a lot of interest in West Virginia and there’s a lot of interest in Marshall. It is going to be right in the center of the state. Even if you weren’t rooting for either team, just to come out and see basketball at that level isn’t played around here that often.”