MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The lengthy process of building the Best Virginia roster is complete and the WVU alumni team will gather later this week to begin preparations for The Basketball Tournament. Players are expected to arrive in Morgantown Thursday and practice will begin Friday. Best Virginia will face WVU-Tech in an exhibition game Saturday at 6 p.m. at Fairmont State University.
2012 WVU graduate Kevin Jones has been instrumental in assembling this year’s roster.
“We live in Morgantown and we work out together. We see each other a lot so that natural chemistry is already there. The guys playing through the years, it is like a family reunion,” Jones said. “We’re looking forward to representing the state and representing WVU. It is a good opportunity for everybody, not just to win the money, but to get together like a family.”
This year’s Best Virginia squad is comprised of Mountaineer alumni that played throughout the past decade. Jones, Devin Ebanks and John Flowers were members of West Virginia’s Final Four team in 2010.
“We just talked about more of a 2010-style of team, the Final Four team — big, attacking the glass, putting it in the post and exposing mismatches. We definitely want to try to do that. We’re long and athletic and big. I think at all of our positions, we have long, athletic guys with high basketball IQ as well. I think we have a good mix of all those things.”
Jones has played professional basketball for ten years in the NBA, the NBA G-League, Philippines, France, Serbia, Russia, Spain, and most recently Japan.
“I am still trying to pick up different things as I age. I say I probably got more athletic as I got older. I am just trying to add different things to my game while trying to fine tune the things that were already good for me. I have also been doing well taking care of my body. That’s the major thing. The basketball part is the easy part.”
In addition to Jones, Ebanks and Flowers, Juwan Staten, Jaysean Paige and Jermaine Haley are WVU alumni on the Best Virginia roster. D’Angelo Hunter played at WVU in the 2017-2018 season before transferring to Nicholls State. Jamel Morris and Tanner McGrew both played in the Mountain East Conference. Former Ohio State forward Kaleb Wesson is the only member of Best Virginia that didn’t play college basketball in the Mountain State.
“Kaleb plays on the same team as Jaysean Paige. He was actually supposed to be playing with Marquette’s team, the Golden Eagles team. I don’t know what happened with that. He became available and at the time, we were looking for a big man,” Jones said. “He was the best available big man that we had and he’s very good. So we got lucky getting him.”
James Long is back for his second year as head coach and Morgantown’s Dave Tallman will be back as an assistant coach for the third time. Joining them on the bench is four-year NBA veteran Jevon Carter. The 2018 WVU graduate recently signed a new two-year contract with the Milwaukee Bucks.
“We all got together and asked him. ‘I think this will be big and people will not only want to see the team but they will want to see you’. Obviously, we wish we could have him on the court but his basketball knowledge and his IQ will help out the team tremendously.”
Best Virginia is the No. 1 seed in the West Virginia Regional. They will face No. 8 seed Virginia Dream in the regional quarterfinals on July 24 at the Coliseum and Convention Center. Charleston is hosting a regional for the second consecutive year.
“The reception was had last year was great. Coming out to the music, the band was there and everyone was super-excited to see us play. I am looking forward to that or more this year. It is something special putting on the blue and gold, whether it is TBT or playing in college. Anytime you can do that, it is very special.”
Prior to the start of the TBT, Best Virginia will host a pair of youth basketball camps. The camps will be held at Morgantown’s Mylan Park on July 17 (2-5 p.m.) and the South Charleston Community Center on July 22 (3-6 p.m.)