The Basketball Tournament 2025: Carmen’s Crew Team Profile

After a championship last year, Carmen’s Crew is ready for more, looking to win their third championship in seven years.

Only one active team has multiple championships in TBT, and that’s Carmen’s Crew. After winning it in 2019, Carmen’s Crew patiently waited for their next opportunity. They got it last year, playing in Dayton. They were the three seed in the region, a criminally low seed for a team that was 17-5 all time, but they took advantage and went the distance.

Jobs not finished, though, as they look for back-to-back championships. Only one team has done that before, but with the team they have, the Ohio State alumni team is confident they can go the distance in Indianapolis.

For more TBT team profiles, click here.

Roster:

• Chris Crawford (Memphis)
• Desonta Bradford (ETSU)
• Erick Neal (UTA)
• Jamel Morris (Glenville State & Fairmont State)
• Jeff Gibbs (Otterbein)
• Kaleb Wesson (Ohio State)
• Keyshawn Woods (Charlotte, Wake Forest, & Ohio State)
• Scott Thomas (Bowling Green)
• Tevin Glass (Wichita State & ETSU)
• Trevor Thompson (Ohio State)
• William Buford (Ohio State)

Coaching Staff:

• Leon Rodgers (Head Coach)

Region: Indianapolis

All-time Record: 23-5

First Matchup: vs. GoTime Green Machine (July 19 at 7 p.m.)

Team MVP: Kaleb Wesson

Kaleb Wesson was the Robin to the championship run last year, finishing second on the team in points per game. He’s a beast on the boards and an overall force down low. Physically, there aren’t many people who match up with him, and no one knows that better than Wesson and Carmen’s Crew. Expect them to go to Wesson early and often, and with Sullinger not on the team this year, the frontcourt is his.

Wesson can also get to the line at a high rate. He shot 12 free throws in the championship game and made 8. If he can get to the line this year and get the opposing bigs in foul trouble, they’ll be in a good spot.

Make-or-break Player: Jamel Morris

Morris took 42 total shots in six games. Only nine of those were two-pointers. Yes, 78% Morris’ shots were threes last year. It’s a good thing they were, because he made 42% of his three-pointers last year. He was huge in the win over Red Scare last year, scoring 17 points and hitting 4 threes.

If they want to replicate that success from last year, he’ll need to be a three-point sniper again. With Wesson controlling the paint, they’ll need the outside scoring, and Morris can provide that.

Team Outlook

The road to back-to-back titles begins on July 19th, when they’ll face GoTime Green Machine. After that, their biggest competition comes in the regional final when they potentially face Assembly Ball, who will have the crowd backing them.

Not having Jared Sullinger this year is tough. Sullinger was the tournament MVP last year, and his leadership on and off the court was what took this team to the next level. Hopefully, we get a late commitment from him, or he joins the sidelines as a coach again.

Getting Desonta Bradford back was very important. Bradford was the leading guard last year and will be so again. William Buford is back on the team as well. Buford was the tournament MVP in 2019, when they won their first championship. They would love for him to return to that form and carry them once again.

It won’t be easy to go back to back, but Carmen’s Crew is in a good position to do so. Ohio State might be a football school, but they are now a TBT school as well.