After earning their first TBT win last year, Dream 34 has the talent to add several more this year.
Formerly the Virginia Dream, this team earned their first win last year after beating The Commonwealth, thanks to 27 points by Robert Colon. That’s all they were able to manage, but it certainly generated excitement for this program.
Now, they get Colon back and bring in QJ Peterson, one of the best scorers in TBT history. This duo, along with several other key players gives Dream 34 a serious chance to turn some heads.
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Current Roster:
- Braydin Meyers (Manchester)
- Christopher Wray (Mount Saint Mary’s)
- Edward Polite Jr. (Radford University)
- George Washington (Wake Forest & East Carolina)
- Gregory Parham II (VMI & University of South Alabama)
- Jack Rauch (Florida Southern)
- Javeon Jones (Catawba College)
- Jaylen Alston (Winston Salem State University)
- Joel Kindred (St. Augustine’s University)
- Jordan Jackson (Texas Tech & UTRGV)
- Mason Harrell (Winston Salem State)
- Miryne Thomas (Ball State & Kent State)
- P.J Hairston (North Carolina)
- QJ Peterson (VMI)
- Rob Colon (Winston Salem State)
Coaching Staff:
- Eric Walker (Head Coach)
- Frederico Zamora (Asst. Coach)
- Harold Cone (Asst. Coach)
- Jordan Delks (Asst. Coach)
- Jordan Joyce (GM)
- Nick Perioli (Asst. Coach)
- Reginald Jeffries (GM, Head Coach)
- Warrick Scott (GM, Head Coach)
Region: Cincinnati
All-time Record: 1-2
First Matchup: vs. Team Gibson (July 19 at 1 p.m. on TBT Live)
Team MVP: QJ Peterson
QJ Peterson is a TBT vet, and every year he brings the fire. He scorers early and often, and shoots the ball extremely well. Over 4 games, he averaged 15 points a game, including a 30 bomb in the first game of the tournament to prevent a first-round upset. He is consistently the team’s leading scorer, and despite being just 6’0, he has no issues with his size.
Defenses will have to gameplan around him, or they will regret it. That opens up the rest of his team, and make it easier to get open looks. If this is your first time watching the TBT, keep your eye on Peterson, and you’ll become an instant fan.
Make-or-break Player: Rob Colon
As mentioned earlier, in the win last year, Colon scored 27 points and added 5 rebounds. In the loss, he scored 20 and dished out three assists. If he can find that same scoring ability, paired with Peterson they can challenge Nasty Nati’s Jerron Cumberland and Jacob Evans as the best scoring duo in TBT.
If the shots aren’t falling though, who steps up? Jordan Jackson scored 20 for JUCOPRODUCTS last year, so it could be him, but if only one guy is making shots, we might see the same result as last year. Colon is a terrific player, and there is little doubt that he can hit that 20 mark with ease.
Team Outlook
In Round 1, they’ll face the 3 seed Team Gibson, who lost by 16 in their debut last year. It’ll be an uphill battle if they can move on, as they’ll have to face Zip ‘Em Up, the Xavier alumni team, next round most likely, and potentially Nasty Nati, the Cincinnati alumni team after that.
Another player to keep an eye out for is P.J. Hairston. The UNC alum had a productive college career and will look to bring his talent to Dream 34. Down low, they’ll have George Washington, who at 7’1 will look to set the tone down low. Once again, keep an eye out for Jordan Jackson. He scored nearly 1/3 of the team’s total points and nearly led his team to an upset over the eventual champions.
Dream 34 has the talent, now it’s all about putting it together. This region is very top heavy, so if they pull off an upset, they can cruise to a deep run.