After a first-round exit in their debut last year, Austin’s Own look to better represent Longhorn Nation this year and win it all.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t even close for Austin’s Own last year, losing by 11 to Team Enchantment. They were outrebounded 52-26, and Jacob Young scored nearly one-third of their points. This was a great learning experience, and while the team will look different this year, they have some understanding of how TBT works, which will help them and hopefully allow them to make some noise.
Roster:
- Alexis Wangmene (Texas)
- Alonzo Sule (Texas State & James Madison)
- Demarkus Stuckey Jr. (Goshen College)
- Jachai Simmons (University of New Mexico)
- Joirdon Nicholas (Montana, Stephen F. Austin, & Texas Southern)
- Keonte Kennedy (Xavier, UTEP, Memphis, & Cal)
- Kerwin Roach Jr. (Texas)
- Mervin James (Rider)
- Ramon Galloway Sr. (South Carolina & La Salle)
- Saquan Singleton (New Mexico & George Mason)
Coaching Staff:
- Anwar King (Asst. Coach)
- Clay Mello (Asst. Coach)
- Luke Watts (Asst. Coach)
- Reggie Freeman (Head Coach)
- Ryan Hamman (GM)
- Vincent Hu (GM)
Region: Houston
All-Time Record: 0-1
First Matchup: vs. Forever Coogs (July 20 at 9 p.m. on TBT Live)
Team MVP: Ramon Galloway
Galloway has been tremendous in his TBT career, scoring 21 points in a game as a member of Big 5 in 2022, and 27 last year representing the same team. This year, representing Austin’s Own, Galloway will need to reach that 20 point mark again if he wants to finally make a deep run. He’s a great shooter and can score on all three levels. He also grabbed 9 rebounds, despite being just 6’3. The rest of the team lacks experience, so having him on the team will be extremely important for Austin’s Own.
Make-or-Break Player: Keonte Kennedy
Kennedy is a recent graduate of the University of California, and while he wasn’t the star, he still averaged 10 a game for the Bears. Those young legs can make a big difference, especially in transition. Kennedy also averaged 1.5 steals a game, and if he can disrupt the passing lanes and make things difficult for the opponent, it can allow Austin’s Own to stay in the game and perhaps pull off some upsets.
The transition from college basketball to TBT isn’t easy, so the learning curve might be a problem, and in a single elimination format, he might not have the time to make that adjustment.
Team Outlook
The lack of experience from this squad is definitely a concern, and the fact, that they only return one player from last year’s team, Alexis Wangmene, is surprising. They’ll face Forever Coogs, a Houston alumni team in Houston for their first game, so they’ll definitely have to face adversity. If they can pull off the shocking upset, they could face another Texas team in the third round, the one seed Mean Green, a North Texas alumni team.
Kerwin Roach is the most notable name on this roster, and he can provide a huge boost for this team. The bigs are definitely the weak spot, but if they can rebound and defend, then that should be enough to keep Austin’s own competitive.