Duke, Florida, Auburn, Houston punch their ticket to the Final Four
The madness continues as Mackenzie Salmon previews the Men’s Final Four matchups, which will feature all No. 1 seeds for the first time since 2008.
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- Alumni of the Vermont men’s basketball program have formed a team to compete in The Basketball Tournament (TBT) for a chance to win $1 million.
- The Green Mountain Men have secured commitments from several former Catamounts, including Aaron Deloney, Robin Duncan, Dylan Penn, Ileri Ayo-Faleye, and Drew Urquhart.
- TBT, now in its 12th year, will feature 64 teams across eight regional locations, with the Green Mountain Men playing in the Syracuse region.
File this under what to watch this summer: Alums of the Vermont men’s basketball program will play in The Basketball Tournament, a nationally televised, long-running event that pays out a $1 million cash prize to the winner.
Ernie Duncan, a former Catamount star, and Jake Marsh, the team’s former play-by-play radio announcer, announced their entry into the 64-team field and their team name — the Green Mountain Men — on social media Wednesday.
“Jake and I tried to do it a couple years ago and it didn’t work out. But we ramped it back up in the fall. (TBT) has only gotten more and more popular,” Duncan said in a phone interview Thursday. “We thought it would be a good opportunity to put a team in.”
Duncan will serve as a coach and pair with Marsh as the team’s assistant general managers. Vermont native Derryk O’Grady, a longtime assistant for the Catamounts, will be the the head coach of the Green Mountain Men.
“I thought Derryk would be the perfect fit to coach this team,” Duncan said.
This will be Vermont’s first alumni team to play in TBT.
As of Thursday, Duncan and Marsh have secured commitments from the following former Catamounts: guards Aaron Deloney (2024 graduate), Robin Duncan (2023) and Dylan Penn (2023), and forwards Ileri Ayo-Faleye (2025) and Drew Urquhart (2018).
Duncan said they have a “nice pool” of Vermont alums from which to select. The plan is to field a 10-player roster.
“We want to have the best team we can possibly make,” Duncan said. “It’s something we do want to build on. UVM will consistently put out professional players. Hopefully it’s a yearly thing and it gets bigger and better.”
In its 12th year, TBT is made up of 64 teams and eight regional locations. The Green Mountain Men will play in the Syracuse region, which will be held at SRC Arena on the campus of Onondaga Community College.
This summer’s TBT is set to begin July 18, and will be televised live on Fox Sports. Tickets will go on sale May 18.
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.
