Oregon basketball alumni set to begin play at The Basketball Tournament
A group of former Oregon men’s basketball stars will begin play at The Basketball Tournament on Saturday with hopes of taking home a $1 million prize.
Always Us, a team comprised primarily of Oregon alumni, is set to play its TBT opener Saturday at 3 p.m. PT. The No. 4-seeded Ducks’ squad will face No. 5 Jackson Tennesee Underdawgs at the Omaha Regional in a matchup that will air on ESPN3.
This marks the second consecutive year that Always Us had participated in The Basketball Tournament, which was founded in 2014 and annually features alumni from some of college basketball’s greatest programs in a 64-team, single-elimination format.
In last year’s tournament, Always Us was ousted in the second round after winning its opening game.
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The Always Us roster is stocked with names that will be familiar to longtime fans of the Oregon basketball program.
Current Ducks’ assistant Mike Mennenga is the team’s head coach, while Oregon women’s basketball assistant coach and former men’s basketball star Mike Moser is serving as an assistant coach. Former Oregon men’s basketball staffers Brian O’Reilly and Robbie Ellis are the team’s general managers, and former staffer Chris Reeves is also an assistant coach.
In addition to the players with ties to the Oregon program, Always Us also features two players who starred at other programs. Brian Conklin is a 6-foot-7 forward from St. Louis University, and Michael Finke is a 6-foot-10 forward who played at Illinois and Grand Canyon.
Here’s a rundown of the former Ducks who will be in action for Always Us throughout the tournament
Always Us roster
- Casey Benson, point guard (2014-17)
- EJ Singler, small forward (2009-13)
- Garrett Sim, point guard (2008-12)
- Jacob Young, point guard (2021-22)
- Jalil Abdul-Bassit, shooting guard (2013-15)
- Johnathan Loyd, point guard (2010-14)
- Shakur Juiston, power forward (2019-20)
- Tajuan Porter, point guard (2006-10)
The winning of The Basketball Tournament will take home a $1 million prize. All games will air on the ESPN family of networks.
A full tournament schedule can be found here.
