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If you're craving Northwestern basketball action and don't want to wait until November, then you're in luck. Drew Crawford, Michael "Juice" Thompson and a few other former Northwestern players will be participating in The Basketball Tournament this July and August.
Former Wildcats Crawford, Thompson, Craig Moore and Tim Doyle are four of the confirmed members of the team, which is sponsored by 120 Sports. Unfortunately, Shurna suffered a broken wrist recently and will not be available, while Doyle serves primarily as the team's "booster," so he won't play, either. They'll be joined by former Purdue big man Robbie Hummel and several other former college players, many of whom are either playing overseas or in the D-League. In last year's TBT, Thompson and Moore played together on team Krossover PPI but now they've recruited some of Northwestern's more notable recent alums to create a star-studded bunch.
If you're not familiar with The Basketball Tournament, it's a 64-team winner-take-all tournament that features teams composed of former NBA players, former college players and just regular people who want to play some basketball for the chance to win a lot of money.
The winning team gets $2 million if it can get through the NCAA Tournament-style bracket — with regions in Charlotte, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Chicago — which, last year, yielded a champion featuring former Texas star Myck Kabongo and St. John's standout D.J. Kennedy.
Thompson and Moore's team didn't do particularly well in the 2015 TBT but it should be significantly improved with the addition of Crawford, who played in the D-League this season. Former conference opponent Hummel spent time in the NBA as recently as 2015.
There are TBT teams featuring alumni from Kentucky (Marquis Teague, Joe Crawford), Villanova (Scottie Reynolds, Maalik Wayns), Syracuse (C.J. Fair, Eric Devendorf, Brandon Triche) and other schools, so Team 120 Sports will have some tough competition ahead of itself. But, if it's able to make it all the way to the championship game, Wildcats fans will be able to watch the team on ESPN on August 2.
To buy team merchandise, go here and support your favorite Northwestern players from the Carmody (and Chris Collins) era. The team will be in the Midwest region, which takes place at St. Xavier University in Chicago. Games start July 16 and 17.
This is considered a postseason tournament, right?