Red Scare will return to The Basketball Tournament in 2021

Devin Oliver, a 2014 Dayton graduate, made the announcement of the Red Scare’s return in a Twitter video Friday. He said the Red Scare hopes to add former Flyers Scoochie Smith, Dyshawn Pierre and Jordan Sibert to the roster in 2021 and also possibly current Flyer, Jalen Crutcher, who’s a senior this season.

“What we’re really missing is a true point guard, so either Scoochie or Jalen would be a big get for us,” Oliver said.

The sites and dates for the 2021 tournament will be announced in February. UD Arena was scheduled to host the final three rounds last summer, but the event was moved to Columbus because of the coronavirus pandemic.

At that time, TBT founder and CEO Jon Mugar said the goal was to bring the tournament to UD Arena in 2021 and that the arena could even become a permanent home for the event.

“Our assessment came down to what location allowed us the safest environment in which to pull off our quarantined environment and what location was the most central for our teams,” Mugar said last year. “In Columbus, we have an arena, hotel and practice courts all within a three-block radius. It’s heartbreaking not to be able to play in Dayton this year, especially since we were on pace to shatter our championship game attendance records. Hopefully Dayton fans will embrace us in 2021.”

The Red Scare’s 2020 roster included Oliver and five former Flyers: Ryan Mikesell; Trey Landers; Kyle Davis; Darrell Davis; and Jalen Robinson. Two players from other programs also played for the team: Ryan McMahon (Louisville); and Trevor Thompson (Ohio State).

The Red Scare, seeded eighth in the tournament, lost to the No. 4 seed Golden Eagles, a team of Marquette alums, 79-70 in the semifinals. The Golden Eagles won the $1 million prize by beating Sideline Cancer in the championship game.