“Everyone comes from different professional careers,” Gruden said Monday, “and a lot of them are the best players on their teams. Some guys have to sacrifice, and it can be hard for certain guys.”
The Red Scare has had more success than most making it work. They were the No. 3 seed in the Dayton Region last season and won the region before losing 74-69 to Blue Collar U, a University of Buffalo team, in the semifinals of the $1 million winner-takes-all tournament.
On Wednesday, the 2023 TBT bracket was revealed, and the Red Scare is the No. 1 seed in the Dayton Region. It will play No. 8 seed India Rising, “an unprecedented basketball team bringing together the world’s best Indian-origin players,” according to the TBT, in the first round at 8 p.m. July 26, at UD Arena.
The other games in Dayton on July 26 are:
1 p.m.: No. 2 seed Friday Beers vs. No. 7 Athletics Miami
The Friday Beers team includes includes former NBA players Gabe York and Mitch Creek.
3 p.m.: No. 3 Team Colorado vs. No. 6 Men of Mackey
The Colorado alumni team includes D’Shawn Schwartz, who played at George Mason last season and made a last-second buzzer-beater to beat Dayton when he was at Colorado in the 2019-20 season.
6 p.m: No. 4 Carmen’s Crew vs. No. 5 Team Overtime.
After a one-year absence, the Ohio State alumni team Carmen’s Crew returns with a roster that includes William Buford, Kaleb and Andre Wesson, CJ Jackson, Kyle Young and Trevor Thompson, who played with the Red Scare the last three years. Carmen’s Crew won the championship in 2019.
If the Red Scare win its first game, it will play Carmen’s Crew or Overtime Elite, at 8 p.m. July 28. The Dayton Regional championship game will take place at 7 p.m. on July 29. Tickets are available at TheTournament.com/Dayton.
The winner of the Dayton Regional will stay at UD Arena for the quarterfinals and will play another regional winner at 7 p.m. July 31. The winner of that game will advance to the semifinals, which along with the championship game will be played at Drexel University’s Daskalakis Athletic Center in Philadelphia.
Dayton’s roster includes seven former Flyers: Jordan Sibert; Scoochie Smith; Darrell Davis; Josh Cunningham; Ryan Mikesell; Trey Landers; and Rodney Chatman. All those players, except Chapman, were on the Red Scare roster last year. Sibert, Smith, Davis, Cunningham and Mikesell started last season.
Joining the former UD players are:
• AJ Pacher: The 6-10 forward/center, a graduate of Vandalia Butler, scored 873 points in four seasons (2010-14) at Wright State. He’s averaging 13.7 points for Vanoli Cremona in Italy this season..
“We almost got him last year, but Trevor (Thompson) ended up playing,” Gruden said. “We’re excited about him. He’s playing in Italy still and doing really well over there. He’s a really good shooter. He has good size. We needed a big. And he’s from Ohio. It’s a win-win.”
• Jordan Barham: The 6-4 guard who scored 866 points in four seasons at Davidson (2012-16). He played for Ohio 1804, an Ohio Bobcats alumni team, in the TBT last year.
“He’s like Trey,” Gruden said. “He can play any position and guard any position. Guys like that, who can do multiple things, are huge.”
• Terry Allen: The 6-8 forward scored 1,491 points in four seasons (2012-16) at Richmond.
• Justin Smith: The 6-7 forward played three seasons at Indiana for former Dayton coach Archie Miller and one season at Arkansas when Bonsu was on the staff there.
The Red Scare roster could still change before the team gathers in Dayton in preparation for the tournament.
“We try to have as much depth as possible each year,” Gruden said, “just because you never know who’s going to show up in shape, who’s going to show up with a bum ankle, who’s been sitting on the couch for two weeks. Every year is different, but the more options you have, especially with it being a one-and-done tournament, the better. We’ve focused on having nine really solid guys. We’ll go from there and see who can play on each given night.”
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