After a successful rookie year, Kon Knueppel brings a TBT team to the mix, the Knueppel crew, hoping to see the same success that his Blue Devils and Hornets achieved
The Knueppel family has a deep tree of hoopers. There’s Kon, who was a top two rookie in the NBA last year and a top five pick in the draft. Kager is the second oldest and just committed to Duke this summer. Then there’s Kinston, Kash, and Kidman, who are still young, but are on their way to being NBA-level players one day.
Who can forget Chari Knueppel, their mother, who is the all-time leader at Wisconsin-Green Bay, and Kon Sr., who will suit up for Knueppel Crew this summer. He’ll be joined by a mixed bag of players from different ages, sizes, and skill sets. Hopefully, they can all come together and make a deep run in this tournament.
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Roster:
- Nick McGlynn (Drake)
- Jack Campion (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)
- Kon Knueppel (Wisconsin Lutheran College)
- Artur Łabinowicz (Coastal Carolina & University of Evansville)
- Keenon Cole (Polk State & Lindenwood)
- Chase Forte (UNC Asheville, Northwestern State, South Dakota, & Boston College)
- Geoff Gray (Emerson College)
- Tony Meier (University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee)
- Taylor Boley (Judson College & Carroll University)
- Marcus Tomashek (Michigan Tech)
Coaching Staff:
- Sam Grall (GM)
- Jeff Nordgaard (Head Coach)
- Zach Flener (Asst. Coach)
All-Time Record: 0-0
First Matchup: vs. Gotham City Bockers (July 23 at 7 p.m. PDT)
Team MVP: Marcus Tomashek
Tomashek is coming off a great career at Michigan Tech. Last year, he averaged 21.1 PPG and averaged over 20 PPG in his last three seasons. He hit 11 threes in a game last season and has a ton of confidence. He’s young, and in a tournament that has a lot more experienced guys, that could be an advantage.
He’s not the most efficient scorer, and there’s a serious chance he goes 3-15 from the field. If he gets hot though, he can go for 25, and in a tournament where every game matters, that could be the difference between moving on and going home.
Make-or-Break Player: Chase Forte
Forte is another player who recently wrapped up his college career, playing for his fourth team in four years at Boston College. He averaged just 6 PPG, his lowest since his freshman season. However, in his junior year at Lindenwood, he averaged 17.9 PPG. He had the best shooting splits of his career and also averaged nearly 2 steals a game.
So, the question is which Forte Knuepell Crew will we see in this year’s TBT? Will we see the 18 PPG scorer who is a menace on both ends of the floor, or the 6 PPG scorer who really struggled last year? Hopefully, the former, which would give his team a huge boost.
Team Outlook
Look, it’s great to see the Knueppel family supporting TBT, but unless Kon Jr. and Kager suit up, this could get ugly. With so few teams, especially on the alumni side, there are some superteams that have formed, and that’s just not going to cut it for a team with very little experience and not an obvious star entering the tournament.
The effort won’t be an issue, but we’ll see if Knueppel Crew can hang with some of these other teams. Hopefully, we at least get a cameo from Kon and maybe some of his college and NBA friends.