The Basketball Tournament 2023: Best Virginia Team Profile

Best Virginia has had success in The Basketball Tournament before, but can they turn it into a title this time?

Best Virginia has played in The Basketball Tournament before, but this year’s team only features four of the same players from last year. Adding recent stars like Erik Stevenson and Sean McNeil could help the West Virginia alumni team to their furthest run in TBT.

For more TBT team profiles, click here.

Current Roster:

• Alex Gross (Olivet Nazarene & Morehead State)
• Chase Harler (West Virginia)
• Erik Stevenson (Wichita State, Washington, South Carolina, & West Virginia)
• Jamel Morris (Glenville State and Fairmont State)
• John Flowers (West Virginia)
• Kedrian Johnson (West Virginia)
• Kevin Jones (West Virginia)
• Nathan Adrian (West Virginia)
• Nathan Flowers (Oklahoma City)
• Quincy Ford (Northeastern)
• Sean McNeil (West Virginia & Ohio State)
• Teyvon Myers (West Virginia)

Coaching Staff:

• Dave Tallman (Asst. Coach)
• Greg Richardson (GM)
• James Long (Head Coach)
• Payton Sturm (Asst. Coach)
• Steve Bierer (Asst. Coach)

Region:

• West Virginia

Team MVP: Kevin Jones

Kevin Jones was the star for Best Virginia over the years, leading the team in scoring multiple times and hitting the game-winner in a close contest against WoCo Showtime in 2021. He’s a leader of this team and has been consistent in scoring the ball. At this point, he’s a TBT veteran, which is never something to overlook.

There are a lot of new faces on this year’s Best Virginia squad, so roles could change up a bit. Jones was always a scorer, which was highlighted by his 19.9 points per game average as a senior in 2011-12. He turns 34 in August, but he’s just as much of a bucket as he was a dozen years ago. (Does that make you feel old, Mountaineers fans?)

Regardless, Jones should remain a leading figure on this year’s team.

Make-or-break Player: Erik Stevenson

In January, former West Virginia hoops coach Bob Huggins had some very choice words to say about Stevenson. Stevenson picked up a technical foul in a loss to Oklahoma State and Huggins was displeased, to say the least.

“Erik gets incredibly stupid again and basically costs us the game,” said Huggins. “I know for sure the next time it happens, he will no longer be a Mountaineer.”

Now, I would like to point out the utter irony of these comments, but we can save that for another article.

All this to say that if Stevenson comes ready to perform, he can be a major asset for Best Virginia. He played at four colleges, but clearly, West Virginia was his favorite because he chose to play TBT with them. That should make a bit of some sense because his best statistical year came with the Mountaineers, which by the way, ended just a few months ago.

Stevenson is a TBT rookie, which can be a problem against guys who have been playing professionally for years. But he should be in great shape and have a competitive edge, which are two important qualities in The Basketball Tournament.

Team Outlook

Best Virginia has an all-time record of 6-3 in The Basketball Tournament, but that didn’t stop them from overhauling their roster for 2023. Stevenson, McNeil, Harler (played in 2021), and Kedrian Johnson could all be important new pieces for this year’s edition.

Former Northeastern star Quincy Ford is an under-the-radar forward who could provide some good minutes, while TBT vet John Flowers should also help Jones in leading this team.

Best Virginia will face off with DuBois Dream on Tuesday and should be favored to knock them out in the first round. Going forward in TBT, Best Virginia will have to rely on a team filled with shooters and forwards.

It won’t be an easy region, with Herd That and Sideline Cancer as two possible teams that could knock out Best Virginia. But the WVU alumni squad could make it pretty far in TBT in 2023.