Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Tournament has $2 million, winner-take-all prize
CLOVIS — Jaye Crockett is still plugging away at his international pro basketball career.
But he’s hopeful he can get a payout in the United States in the next few weeks.
Crockett, a 2009 Clovis High graduate, will play today in the first round of The Basketball Tournament, a 5-on-5 tournament with a 64-team bracket and a a winner-take-all $2 million prize.
The tournament includes four regions, each with 16 teams — nine selected by votes on thetournament.com, six teams selected at large and one team that won a spot through the TBT Jamboree in Philadelphia.
The Matadors are in the South Regional at Charlotte’s Queens University, and play at 12:15 p.m. today against the Washington Generals — yes, those Generals. The longtime Harlem Globetrotters punching bags insist TBT is a different ballgame and are led by general manager Kenny Smith from Turner Broadcasting and coach Sam Worthen of Marquette.
The Matadors’ roster includes Crockett, Ronald Ross, John Roberson and Toddrick Gotcher of Texas Tech; Quantez Robertson of Auburn; Rion Brown of the University of Miami; Quincy Diggs of Akron University; Marshall Moses of Oklahoma State and Javonte Douglas of the University of Montevallo.
“Everybody on this team can score, so we can’t all be selfish,” Crockett said. “I know I bring energy to this team, with rebounds and defense.”
The Matadors-Generals winner moves on to a 10:45 a.m. second-round game against either region top seed Overseas Elite or the Chattanooga Trenches.
The final 16 teams will play July 20-23 in Brooklyn, New York, with all games broadcast on an ESPN affiliate. The semifinal and title games will be Aug. 1 and 3 in Baltimore.
This is Crockett’s second-straight year playing in the tournament. His team was eliminated in the first round last year.
Teams had until June 1 to submit a nine-player roster at $1 per player, and can sign free agents before every round. Free agents can be added for $1,000 before the first round, $2,000 before the second round and so on to $6,000 before the title game. All players from eliminated teams are free agents, and rosters are capped at 15.
The Matadors have not added any free agents so far, but Crockett said they’d certainly entertain the possibility if they make a deep run.
“The closer you get to the money,” he said, “it gets more competitive.”
They will be coached by Montevallo’s Donny Young, who has reached the Sweet 16 10 times in his 15 seasons coaching Division II.
Either way, Crockett will be back in Clovis next week, as he’s putting on his annual basketball camp at Gattis Middle School Tuesday and Wednesday.
Crockett played last season for Lighthouse Conad Trapani in Italy, averaging 16.8 points and seven rebounds per game.
