One of the top annual basketball events of the summer is set to tip off this weekend with The Basketball Tournament. This year’s field features 61 teams made up of high-level basketball players, all competing in a single-elimination bracket for the $1 million prize.
Once again, TBT is loaded with talent, featuring plenty of pros from non-NBA leagues and a load of former college basketball stars, many of whom will be suiting up for their former schools' alumni teams. Watching these players take the court in the same colors they wore during their college days is always awesome to see and provides great nostalgia for college hoops fans.
Here are 20 former college basketball stars that will be playing in TBT 2025.
One of Bill Self’s best Jayhawk point guards was a pure joy to watch during his college days. He was the face of college hoops in 2017, winning the Naismith Player of the Year and Bob Cousy Award, while leading the Jayhawks to the Elite Eight. Despite Kansas having an alumni team, Mason chose not to suit up for them. Instead, he will join a Boeheim’s Army team that is loaded with impressive former Syracuse players including Buddy and Jimmy Boeheim, Elijah Hughes, Malachi Richardson, and Rakeem Christmas.
Trimble was the perfect college point guard with his ability to create and score. He broke onto the scene as a true freshman, averaging 16.2 points per game while shooting over 40% from three, and to the delight of college basketball fans, returned for two more seasons. This Shell Shock team led by Trimble, alongside former Terps Darryl Morsell and Diamond Stone, is one that could make a run in this bracket.
Shabazz Napier’s right-hand man will be representing UConn once again and looking to add another title to the shelf. Boatright started over 100 games for the Huskies and ranks in the program’s top 10 all-time in scoring. He also played a key role in putting together this UConn alumni team as GM, which features RJ Cole, Rodney Purvis, and DeAndre Daniels.
Smith will suit up for the Louisville alumni team for the second year in a row and do so in front of a home crowd. The point guard averaged over 18 points per game in his final two seasons and was a consensus First-Team All-American in 2014. This Louisville squad has shades of the 2013 national championship team all over with Smith, Peyton Siva, Montrezl Harrell, and Chane Behanan on the court, and Luke Hancock serving as head coach.
The darling of the 2024 NCAA Tournament and Kentucky killer was a late addition to the Ohio alumni team and a great name for TBT to have. In his one season at Oakland, Gohlke attempted 372 field goals, with 364 of them coming from beyond the arc, so don’t expect to see him step inside the three-point line much. While he may not be a former Bobcat, he will be playing alongside some including Jason Preston and Ben Vander Plas.
Yogi Ferrell was one of the most electric college basketball players of the 2010’s. He holds the Hoosiers record for all-time assists and was a leading piece in a bright time for Indiana basketball prior to their recent drop off. He will once again suit up for a Hoosiers team that is loaded with notable names including Christian Watford, Juwan Morgan, Miller Kopp, Race Thompson, and Jarron Cumberland from Cincinnati.
The former Butler Bulldog will once again take the floor at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Baldwin was a four-year starter who sits fourth all-time in points in program history. He averaged double figures each season and delivered a memorable buzzer-beating three-pointer to defeat Villanova in 2020.
Gray played at Houston just before rising to the power that they now are under Kelvin Sampson. During his time there he was the star, earning First Team All-Conference honors twice and averaging 18.8 points per game over his three seasons. In last year’s TBT, he was named to the All-Tournament Team and helped lead Forever Coogs to the finals.
Frankamp began his college career at Kansas before transferring to Wichita State, where he made a name for himself. He has since become a staple of TBT and will once again suit up for the Aftershocks, who should once again have one of the best environments of the tournaments at their host site.
DJ Burns will be playing in somewhat of a college basketball setting, and for that, fans everywhere should be thankful. Two years ago he took not just the college hoops world, but the entire sports world by storm, leading NC State on an unforgettable run to an ACC Tournament title and a Final Four appearance. He will reunite with his point guard from that Wolfpack team, DJ Horne, as part of the Challenge ALS squad.
The Harrison twins will once again suit up to represent Kentucky. They were two of the biggest names in college basketball during their time. As freshmen they led the Wildcats to the national title game as an 8 seed, then followed it up with a historic 2014–2015 season that saw Kentucky go 38-1. Despite their college success, they have become the forgotten ones from that team, as they did not go on to have great pro careers. The Harrison Twins are exactly the kind of players TBT does a great job of showcasing, and are what help make this tournament so special.
Kennedy was an extremely consistent player at St. John’s, in what now feels like ages ago. A versatile contributor on both ends of the court, he was best known for his defensive skills. He is also known as the greatest and most decorated player in TBT history with five championships and two tournament MVP’s.
Funk was a lethal three-point shooter during his college career. He spent four years at Bucknell, breaking out in his senior season by averaging 17.6 points per game. He then transferred to Penn State who he’ll represent in TBT. Funk was the perfect role player for the 2022–2023 Penn State team that reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 12 years. The Happy Valley Hoopers will also feature a pair of former Nittany Lion forces in the paint: John Harrar and Mike Watkins.
Buford was a staple of Buckeye basketball during the Thad Matta era and will return to a team that has become a staple of TBT in Carmen’s Crew. He played in 145 games for the Scarlet and Gray, averaging double figures in all four of his seasons. The 35 year-old was named TBT MVP in 2019 when Ohio State’s alumni team captured the title, and they are the defending champs entering this year's event.
If you’ve never watched TBT before, I highly recommend checking out Jon Elmore and Herd That. This team has become a fan favorite of this event, thanks in large part to Elmore and his brother Ot, who no longer plays but has taken on a coaching role. Jon Elmore currently ranks second in all-time scoring and first in assists in Marshall program history. This Marshall alumni team will also feature Taevion Kinsey, the player who surpassed Elmore and now sits atop the all-time scoring list.
This is one of the headline names of a Kansas alumni team, which quite frankly has a disappointing roster for being a blue blood program. During his time at Kansas, Vick was a solid player known for his incredible athleticism that had him jumping out of the gym.
The former TCU guard was the definition of hard to guard in his college days, as he could score from anywhere on the court and was always forcing his way to the basket. He led the Horned Frogs in scoring in two of his three seasons, and I could see him lighting it up in this tournament with his strong size and explosiveness.
Valpo may be the smallest college program with a team in the tournament, but they have good representation with Krikke. The forward scored over 1,500 points while shooting better than 50% from the field for the Crusaders and led the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring as a senior. He spent his final year of eligibility at Iowa, where he once again averaged double figures.
The small point guard was a pure scorer back in his days in the Patriot League and will suit up for the Texas alumni team in TBT. He averaged 15 points per game over his four-year career at Colgate and was named Patriot League Player of the Year in 2021. Many may remember his standout performance in the 2019 NCAA Tournament when he nearly led Colgate to an upset over No. 2 seed Tennessee, scoring 32 points and hitting 8 of 13 from three-point range.
Mitchell had a long and notable college career, playing for four different schools, making him one of the early examples of the transfer portal era. He began at UMass, where he spent two seasons dominating the A-10 putting up 18 points and grabbing seven rebounds a game. He then had one-year stints at West Virginia, Texas, and Kentucky, where he was a solid contributor, but not where near as dominant due to injury. In this tournament, he will represent West Virginia, a program that has built a strong presence in the event. (Interesting to note that all three of his final schools have teams in this year’s field)