The Basketball Tournament 2025: Elite Nation Team Profile

After a promising year one in TBT, Elite Nation, formerly Takeover BC looks to do even more, and win the championship

When Takeover BC entered the tournament last year, many overlooked them as the seven seed in the Cincinnati region. They proved quickly that anyone who doubted them was making a big mistake. In front of a very pro Zip ‘Em Up crowd, they took down the two seed convincingly, 91-75. They weren’t done there, beating the six seed in the regional semifinal, then dominating the five seed by 25 points in the regional final.

They eventually lost to the champions in the quarterfinals, but for a seven seed making their debut, it’s about as good of a start as you can get. What made this team special was their high scoring. They scored 85.3 PPG, the 4th most in TBT last year.

This year, Elite Nation looks to do the same, and they return the dynamic duo of AJ English and Desi Washington. The seeding committee didn’t make any mistakes this year, as this one seed has what it takes to win the million dollars.

For more TBT team profiles, click here.

Roster:

• AJ English (Iona)
• D’Angelo Harrison (St. John’s)
• Dane Miller (Rutgers)
• Darious Hall (Arkansas)
• Desi Washington (Saint Peter’s)
• Galin Smith (Alabama)
• Jaquan Lightfoot (Southeastern CC & Trinity Valley CC)
• Justin Robinson (Monmouth)
• Malik Osborne (Florida State)
• Rashad Vaughn (UNLV)
• Samuel Idowu (Saint Peter’s)
• Tarekyi Edogi (Iona)
• William Brown (Fayetteville State)

Coaching Staff:

• Mohamed Farih (GM & Assistant Coach)
• Praneeth Bommareddy (GM & Assistant Coach)

Region: West Virginia

All-time Record: 3-1

First Matchup: BYE

Team MVP: Desi Washington

Washington was truly exceptional last year, averaging 20.3 PPG across the four games they played last year, including a 27-point explosion in their narrow victory in round two. He shot an out-of-this-world 46% from three, and it wasn’t like he was taking one or two a game; he shot at least six in every game.

While the scoring was a big plus for him, he also averaged 4.8 assists per game to lead the team. He’s the dream point guard in TBT, and a big reason why they were able to go so deep. If he can shoot the ball at not only a high volume, but efficiently like he did last year, the ceiling for this team is as high as it gets. Desi Washington will be a household TBT name by the end of this tournament.

Make-or-break Player: AJ English

AJ English set the tone for this team and gave them the confidence in the first place that they could pull off the first round upset and actually go far in this thing. He scored 33 points in the opener, one of the best scoring performances of any player in a single game. He hit eight threes and had only one foul. It was a truly incredible game, and fans knew that if he could come close to this pace, the shot at a million was legitimate.

However, every game, he saw his numbers go down a bit. 33 points turned into 21, then 17, then just 4 points on 1-7 shooting in the loss to Carmen’s Crew. Now, 21 and 17 are nothing to look down upon, but the lack of consistency definitely hurt them, especially in that final game.

If he can be a consistent scorer and hit his shots at a high rate, there will be zero answers for the backcourt of him and Washington. If the shot isn’t falling, though, they’ll have to look to the rest of the team for an answer, something they’re a little less comfortable doing.

Team Outlook

Elite Nation are one of the three teams in TBT to get a first round bye. They deserve it, but it’s still disappointing that we have to wait a round to see them play. In the second round, they’ll take on either Court Street Kings or The Nawf. Elite Nation was on the other side of an upset last year, so they know they can’t be too comfortable with their seeding. The big tests will be in the regional final, where they could potentially play Herd That or Best Virginia. Both schools have large fan bases in West Virginia, so it’ll definitely have a road game atmosphere.

After English and Washington, they lose their next two best scorers from last year. Maybe that’ll be D’Angelo Harrison, who scored 16 points in his only game last year. It could also be Malik Osbourne, the former Florida State Seminole, who is playing in Germany.

If Elite Nation plays anything like they did last year, they’re going to want to play fast and score as many points as possible. To all the defenses in this tournament, good luck.