The Basketball Tournament 2024: Brown Ballers Team Profile

Brown Ballers, formerly India Rising, shocked The Basketball Tournament world last year, and look to do so again.

In India Rising’s debut in 2022, they lost by 28 as the 8 seed. Many expected the same result the following year when they were pinned as the 8 seed once again and set to face Red Scare, the hometown team coming off a semifinal appearance in the first round. Instead, they went in and stunned the TBT world, winning by 10 and earning their first win in team history.

This year, they’re back, and hungry for wins. Brown Ballers return six players from last year’s team and believe that they can showcase to the world the talent level of Indian players.

For more TBT team profiles, click here.

Current Roster:

• Aaryn Rai (Dartmouth)
• Ankit Choudary (West Florida University)
• Bikramjit Singh Gill (Ball State)
• Callum Baker (University of Toronto)
• Gokul Natesan (Colorado School of Mines)
• Jayden Grewal (University of Waterloo)
• Jaz Bains (Queens University)
• Kiran Shastri (Chaminade)
• Mankaran (Vick) Toor (University of Fraser Valley)
• Manvinder Sahota (Toronto)
• Sukhmail Mathon (Boston)
• Tajinder Lall (Brock University & Carleton University)
• Varum Ram (Maryland)
• Venkatesha Jois (Eastern Washington)

Coaching Staff:

• Amar Duhra (Asst. Coach)
• Amit Tailor (Asst. Coach)
• Gautam Kaup (GM)
• Karma Patel (Asst. Coach)
• Madhav Trivedi (Head Coach)

Region: Cincinnati 

All-time Record: 1-2

First Matchup: vs. Red Rose Thunder (July 19th at 3 p.m. on TBT Live)

Team MVP: Tajinder Lall

Lall was phenomenal in India Rising’s win last year, scoring 26 points to lead all scorers, and adding five rebounds and five assists as well. He didn’t play in the second game, which was definitely a key reason they weren’t able to make it through. He’s an aggressive scorer and does so at all three levels, which he displayed last year with his four threes. He’s unselfish and plays with a high motor, just what this team needs.

The Red Scare had no answer for him, and as long as he had the ball in his hands, good things would happen. He does have turnover problems, but his scoring and distributing completely outweigh that on that side of the court.

Make-or-break Player: Venkatesha Jois

Jois is a Swiss army knife of sorts and does all the little things that the Brown Ballers need to succeed. In the win last year, he scored 9 points but added 12 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks. He followed that with 8 points and 8 rebounds in the loss.

Brown Ballers have loads of talent, but having a guy like Jois could be the difference between a win and a loss, as we saw last year. This team likes to run a deep lineup, but the more he is on the court, the higher the chance of success. If he can grab rebounds, protect the rim, and score when needed, this team can win a game or two.

Team Outlook

The Brown Ballers got upgraded from the 8 seed they’ve been the two years prior to a 4 seed this year and will face Red Rose Thunder, who are making their TBT debut. If they win that, they’ll likely face Nasty Nati, one of the biggest title contenders and the hometown team in the second round. The Cincinnati region is arguably the weakest in this year’s tournament, so they can easily gain momentum in the region and shock the world.

Brown Ballers have three other players returning from last year’s squad who averaged double digits in their two games played. Those are Jaz Bains, Kiran Shastri, and Sukhmail Mathon. All three of them have the experience and can match up with anyone their opponent throws at them. A big key for them will be rebounding. Last year, they were outrebounded 51-28 in their loss. Mathon is the only player taller than 6’8 on the team, so allowing extra possessions may be a problem. If they can force turnovers and take smart shots, watch out for the Brown Ballers.