For the first time ever there will be a Florida Gators alumni team competing in The Basketball Tournament, giving fans a chance to see some Gator greats on the court one more time.
If you haven’t already heard of it, The Basketball Tournament has a straightforward name because it’s a straightforward event–different rosters of all kinds of different connections come together for a single elimination tournament with the ultimate winner walking away with a $1 million prize.
Florida’s alumni team has been put together by Gataverse, a NFT driven Gator community that offers unique fan experiences that supports athletes throughout the University of Florida. For that reason, the name that Florida’s alumni will be playing under is Gataverse.
The Gators will open up the tournament in Louisville on Tuesday, July 25th against Shell Shock–a team made up of Maryland alumni.
At this point it should be noted that The Basketball Tournament isn’t made up exclusively of alumni teams–though it’s becoming a popular way to build a roster that has lots of fan interest and support.
Gataverse’s roster will consist of:
Myreon Jones
Phlandrous Fleming
Keith Stone
KeVaughn Allen
Egor Koulechov
Erving Walker
Walter Hodge
Taurean Green
Lee Humphrey
There is still one roster spot available, and Gataverse is eyeing a former Gator big man to fill some minutes at the frontcourt position.
Guard depth and shooting is a definite strength of the roster–so you know they’ll be looking to bring “Rainsville” basketball to Louisville and wherever they might head to next if they continue to win and advance.
Several players have had TBT experience in the past, such as Erving Walker and KeVaughn Allen.
This roster will bring together several eras of Florida basketball while also bringing some familiarity with teammates that have previously played together.
Something that makes Gataverse different from a lot of TBT teams is that they went out and got an experienced head coach–former Florida assistant coach Matt McCall will lead the way. Coaching in this tournament has historically been a bit of an afterthought–and Gataverse having a head coach with experience leading Chattanooga and UMass could be a massive competitive advantage in this high-stakes event.
The Basketball Tournament will be broadcast in its entirety on ESPN, so keep your eyes out for when Gataverse will take the floor. With a large sum of money on the line this event always brings high-level basketball and now add in that you’ve got teams like Gataverse and Shell Shock playing for school pride–things are certain to get intense.