The Basketball Tournament 2024: Once a Bronco Team Profile

After a one-year hiatus from The Basketball Tournament, Once a Bronco is back and better than ever.

In 2022, Once a Bronco made its TBT debut, and proceeded to lose by 16. They’re back now and brought with them some Boise State stars to fill out the team. Featuring guys like Marcus Shaver and Max Rice, this team will be fun to watch and will have the entire Boise State fanbase behind them.

For more TBT team profiles, click here.

Current Roster:

• Abu Kigab (Boise State)
• Cameron Oluyitan (Boise State)
• Derrick Marks (Boise State)
• Justinian Jessup (Boise State)
• Marcus Shaver (Boise State)
• Max Rice (Boise State)
• Naje Smith (Boise State)
• Nic Lynch (San Diego)
• Thomas Bropleh (Boise State)
• Zach Haney (Boise State)

Coaching Staff:

• James Reid (GM, Head Coach)
• Kenneth Buckner (Asst. Coach)
• Montigo Alford (Asst. Coach)
• Reggie Larry (Asst. Coach)
• Roger Woods (Asst. Coach)

Region: Houston

All-time Record: 0-1

First Matchup: vs. The Enchantment (July 19 at 4 p.m. on TBT Live)

Team MVP: Marcus Shaver

Marcus Shaver was one of the team’s leaders in his final two seasons, averaging over 13 a game in both. He’s followed that up with a great season in the Czech Republic, averaging 17 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 4.6 APG, and 1.9 SPG. He shoots it well and is a smart player. If Once a Bronco wants their first win, he’ll have to be great, and he is more than capable of doing so.

Make-or-break Player: Max Rice

Max Rice is the definition of a make-or-break player. When he’s hot, he’s hot, as we saw when he went for 35 points last season against New Mexico. The issue is, when he’s cold, he’s cold. Rice went 1-9 against Colorado in the play-in game and went on several multiple-game slumps last season. So which Max Rice will we get? If we get the elite Max Rice, then he can singlehandedly take over a game and win it for Once a Bronco. However, if he’s cold, Once a Bronco will most likely face an early exit.

Team Outlook

Once a Bronco gets the 6 seed in their region, and will face a fellow Mountain West alumni team in The Enchantment, who represent New Mexico. As I mentioned, Rice went for 36 last season, so hopefully, he can do it again. If they win, they potentially face the Houston alumni team in Houston, which as you can imagine won’t be an easy task.

A lot of alumni teams in The Basketball Tournament have a large amount of non-alumni on the team, so seeing this Boise State team be nearly 100% represented is great to see. Hopefully, that chemistry will translate on the court, even if the players didn’t necessarily compete at the same time.