The Nerd Team proved last year that the Ivy League has hoopers, and looks to do so again
Last year, The Nerd Team came into the tournament with low expectations from the media. They proved those people wrong, advancing to the third round. They also pulled off what might be the biggest upset of the entire tournament when they defeated defending champions Boeheim’s Army in the second round.
This year, they bring back some familiar faces, and with the experience under their belt, they think that they can go even further and win the $1,000,000.
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Current Roster:
- Azar Swain (Yale)
- Brandon Sherrod (Yale)
- Desi Washington (Delaware State and St. Peter’s)
- Drew Friberg (Princeton & Belmont)
- Kevin Marfo (George Washington, Quinnipiac, Texas A&M)
- Kyle Casey (Harvard)
- Prentis Hubb (Notre Dame)
- Raiquan Clark (LIU Brooklyn)
- Tucker Richardson (Colgate)
- Willy Workman (Amherst College)
Coaching Staff:
- Aaron Toomey (GM)
- Matthew Goldsmith (GM, Head Coach)
- Mohamad Farih (Asst. Coach)
Region:
- Syracuse, New York
Team MVP: Azar Swain
After a decorated college career where he was named All-Ivy first team twice, he decided to join The Nerd Team last year. Good thing he did, because he was a big reason why they were able to be so successful, averaging 11.3 points across the three games, including 15 points in the upset. Scoring comes easy to Swain, averaging 19.3 points per game his senior season while shooting 47% from the field and 35% from three.
With a year of experience down for Swain, don’t be surprised if he comes out and scores 20+ in The Nerd Team’s opener. The one issue is defense. At 6’0, he is on the smaller side, so his ability to guard taller players could be a liability. If his team is smart (they are, hence the team name), they’ll find ways to overcome this and allow Swain to reach his full potential on the floor.
Make-or-break Player: Kevin Marfo
Guess who the leading rounder in all of college basketball was is 2019-2020? Tshiebwe? No. Azuibuike? Guess again. Luka Garza? Wrong again. The answer is Marfo, who averaged 13.3 rebounds per game, a wildly impressive number. The Nerd Team is small, with Marfo being the tallest player at 6’8, so they’ll need him to crash the glass and provide as many second opportunities as possible.
This year in Italy, he averaged 14 PPG and 8.2 RPG, proving he can do it at any level. The question is how good can he be defensively? As mentioned earlier, he’s the tallest player on the team so by default he’ll have the responsibility of being a rim protector. That isn’t his game though, as he’s only averaged more than one block per game, which he did in that 2019-2020 season. He doesn’t have to be an elite rim protector to his team to succeed, so as long as he provides a little bit of a contest and limits second chances with his elite rebounding ability, The Nerd Team should be just fine.
Team Outlook
3 more sleeps 💤
Nerds have touched down in Cuse & ready for TBT 2023 pic.twitter.com/ugSHxUTbjo
— The Nerd Team TBT (@TheNerdTeamTBT) July 21, 2023
The Nerd Team’s road to the million is one of the tougher in the Tournament, but they are excited and ready. First, they’ll take on the Happy Valley Hoppers, the Penn State Alumni team who have built a respectable roster. Then, they get a rematch with Boeheim’s Army if they win their first game. That’ll be must-watch TV, as The Nerd Team will want to assert dominance once again while Boeheim’s Army looks for revenge. Also on the bracket is Blue Collar U, last year’s champion and arguably the best team since Overseas Elite’s dominance back in the day.
Another notable player joining the team is Tucker Richardson, the Patriot League POY and DPOY last year. He’ll be a lockdown defender for the team and will be a huge help no matter what his role is. Prentis Hubb rejoins the team as well after averaging 10 PPG in last year’s TBT. Brandon Sherrod and Kyle Casey also rejoin the team after playing last year.
The bottom line, this team is very capable of coming out of Syracuse on top. It won’t be easy, but they have a lot of depth and it almost feels like this team was analytically built based on how well most of these players fit on the team. Make sure you tune in for their games because they have the personnel to make games exciting.