After a double-digit loss in their TBT debut last year, Rise and Grind looks to grind their way to the million
Making your TBT debut is never easy, but doing so against Bleed Green, who made it all the way to the championship game last year is pretty unfair. They lost by 16 but still had positive takeaways from the game. Now, in Year 2, Rise and Grind return 4, but also bring experience from other teams, priming them for a better finish this time around.
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Current Roster:
- Buzz Anthony (Randolph-Macon College)
- Chris Johnson (Montgomery College)
- DJ Hanes (Grace University & Nebraska Christian College)
- Giovonni Jackson (Fisk University)
- Hunter Dean (George Washington & LSU)
- Kenney Funderburk Jr. (Columbus State)
- Kevin Bracy-Davis (Davis & Elkins College)
- Kourtney Ware (Kentucky Christian University)
- Lamonte Thomas (Johnson & Wales University)
- Rayshawn Mart (Xavier University of New Orleans)
- Saiquan Jamison (Bowie State)
- TJ Atwood (Lamar University)
- William Loyd (Xavier University of Louisiana)
- Yuat Alok (New Mexico State & TCU)
Coaching Staff:
- Lavar Johnson (GM)
- Jordan Maka (GM, Asst. Coach)
- Kerry Keating (Head Coach)
- Chris Hamilton (Asst. Coach)
- Bryce Swoll (Content)
Region: Dayton
All-time Record: 0-1
First Matchup: vs. Team Heartfire (July 20 at 2 p.m. on TBT Live)
Team MVP: Kevin Bracy-Davis
In the loss last year, Bracy-Davis was one of the bright spots. He scored 15 points to lead the team and added 5 rebounds as well. As a 6-8 Forward, Bracy-Davis is tough to guard, and his ability to stretch the floor is very impressive.
He’s been great overseas, averaging 20 a game in 2022-2023 and 14 a game on 41% three-point shooting. Defensively, he’s not elite, but if he can score 15+ for Rise and Grind, it’ll more than makeup for that. If Rise and Grind want to win, they’ll need a big game out of him once again.
Make-or-break Player: Kenney Funderburk Jr.
Like Bracey-Davis, Funderburk scored double-digit points last tournament, scoring 12 for the Purple Hearts. Funderburk is coming off a season averaging 18.5 PPG in the Romanian league, while also averaging 6 rebounds and assists. He’s a very balanced player and can be a floor general for Rise and Grind. It seems like the older he gets, the better, so he will hopefully use that trait to lead his team past Team Heartfire.
Team Outlook
Surely after scheduling Rise and Grind a game against a team that made their championship, TBT would make it up to them with a better opponent. Unfortunately, they did not feel generous, and instead scheduled them to play the actual champions, Team Heartfire, in the first round. At this rate, they’ll be playing the Boston Celtics next year. If they win, it will go down as the biggest upset in TBT history, so it is very unlikely they can pull it out, but we’ve seen crazy things happen in this tournament all the time.