The first of the potentially multiple matchups with Big Ten roots will take place Wednesday afternoon at The Basketball Tournament (TBT), as fans of the Ohio State Buckeyes and Illinois Fighting Illini may return down memory lane.
Carmen’s Crew (which primarily features OSU alumni) and House of Paign (primarily former Illinois players) will face off in a second round of the $ 1 million winning matchup at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. The game, which will air live on ESPN, is scheduled to tip at 4 p.m.
Defending champions Carmen’s Crew took a first-round goodbye and will open their title defense after winning the 64-team event last summer. Previous buckeyes William Buford (MVP), Aaron Craft, David Lighty, Jon Diebler and others survived Marquette’s alumni team, 66-60, during the championship in Chicago.
House of Paign, a new accepted entrant to the field this year, opened with a 76-53 uneven win over War Tampa in the opening round on Saturday night. Gathered by former Illinois player Mike LaTulip, the group also encompasses the likes of the students. Malcolm Hill, Nnanna Egwu, LeRon Black, Andres Feliz, Cameron Liss and Michael Finke. Hill is the third highest scorer of all time on the program.
In addition, House of Paign also features the South Dakota state star Mike Daum and DePaul’s former guard Billy Garrett Jr. Daum, who lost 27 points to SDSU’s Ohio State at the 2018 NCAA Tournament, scored 21 points in the opening victory.
Making things even more interesting is that former Illinois standout Demetri McCamey is back on Carmen’s Crew list for another season. He is a longtime friend and former high school teammate of Evan Turner.
Check back more this week as we continue our TBT coverage, including snippets from the Carmen’s Crew media session and an expanded preview of the list leading up to Wednesday’s contest.
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