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American professional basketball team
Blue Collar U is an American basketball team that participates in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), an annual winner-take-all single-elimination tournament . The team consists of professional basketball players, most of whom played college basketball for the Buffalo Bulls men's basketball team. The team began participating in TBT in 2021 , reaching the semi-finals. Blue Collar U won its first TBT championship in its second year of participation in 2022 , winning the $1 million grand prize.
In TBT 2021 , Blue Collar U played in the Columbus regional and was seeded 6th out of a field of 16 teams.
Date
Round
Location
Score
Opponent
Ref.
July 24
First round
Columbus, Ohio
88 –82
The Nerd Team
[ 1]
July 25
Second round
93 –83
Zip 'Em Up
[ 2]
July 27
Regional semi-finals
78 –61
Category 5
[ 3]
July 31
Regional finals
Dayton, Ohio
84 –81
The Money Team
[ 4]
August 1
Semi-finals
62–78
Team 23
[ 5]
In TBT 2022 , Blue Collar U played in the Syracuse regional and was seeded 2nd out of a field of 8 teams. Players wore the names of the victims of the 2022 Buffalo shooting on the backs of their jerseys in place of their own names.[ 6] [ 7] They won the Syracuse regional with victories over NG Saints, an alumni team for Neumann Goretti High School in Philadelphia , Friday Beers, and The Nerd Team, an alumni team of Ivy League and other highly prestigious schools. After defeating Heartfire in the quarterfinals, Blue Collar U won a true road game against Red Scare, an alumni team of Dayton Flyers men's basketball . They defeated Americana for Autism in the finals to win the $1 million grand prize.[ 8] [ 9]
Date
Round
Location
Score
Opponent
Ref.
July 22
First round
Syracuse, New York
91 –64
NG Saints
[ 10]
July 23
Second round
78 –75
Friday Beers
[ 11]
July 25
Third round
83 –62
The Nerd Team
[ 12]
July 29
Quarter-finals
Dayton, Ohio
74 –66
Heartfire
[ 13]
July 30
Semi-finals
74 –69
Red Scare
[ 14]
August 2
Finals
89 –67
Americana for Autism
[ 15]
In TBT 2023 , Blue Collar U played in the Syracuse regional and was seeded 1st out of a field of 8 teams.[ 16] In the first round, Blue Collar U defeated Big 5, an alumni team composed mostly of Philadelphia Big 5 schools with the largest comeback in the history of the Elam Ending .[ 17] After defeating Virginia Dream in the second round, they lost in the regional finals to Boeheim's Army , a team of primarily Syracuse Orange Basketball alumni.
Blue Collar U roster
Players
Coaches
Pos.
No.
Nat.
Name
Ht.
Wt.
Age
SF
0
Hamilton, Blake
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
29 – (1994-10-26 ) 26 October 1994
PG
1
Bearden, Lamonte
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
28 – (1995-10-30 ) 30 October 1995
SF
2
Harris, Jeremy
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
27 – (1996-09-10 ) 10 September 1996
PG
3
Johnson, Antwain
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
197 lb (89 kg)
27 – (1997-02-22 ) 22 February 1997
PG
4
Jordan, Davonta
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
187 lb (85 kg)
27 – (1997-05-12 ) 12 May 1997
SG
5
Massinburg, C. J.
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
202 lb (92 kg)
27 – (1997-04-14 ) 14 April 1997
SG
11
Lillard, Antwon
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
28 – (1995-11-06 ) 6 November 1995
PG
15
Clark, Wes
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
183 lb (83 kg)
29 – (1994-12-12 ) 12 December 1994
PG
22
Caruthers, Dontay
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
29 – (1995-06-23 ) 23 June 1995
C
33
Perkins, Nick
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
249 lb (113 kg)
27 – (1996-10-15 ) 15 October 1996
SF
43
Ford, Xavier
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
31 – (1993-01-20 ) 20 January 1993
C
93
McRae, Montell
6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
198 lb (90 kg)
28 – (1996-01-25 ) 25 January 1996
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Wes Scheier
Tom Fox
Edric Dennis Jr.
Team manager
Legend
(C) Team captain Injured
Updated: July 23, 2023
^ "Wes Clark's game-winning shot caps off Elam ending for UB's Blue Collar U" . Buffalo News . July 24, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2022 .
^ "6 BLUE COLLAR U 93, 3 ZIP 'EM UP 83" . TBT. July 26, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2022 .
^ "DAYTON BOUND: Blue Collar U Halfway To $1 Million Prize" . UBBulls.com. July 28, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2022 .
^ "6 BLUE COLLAR U 84, 5 THE MONEY TEAM 81" . TBT. August 1, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2022 .
^ Goldberg, Rob (August 1, 2021). "Boeheim's Army vs. Team 23 Set for The Basketball Tournament 2021 Final; Full Results" . Bleacher Report . Retrieved August 4, 2022 .
^ Slaughter, Marquel (July 27, 2022). "Led by Rochester native, their jerseys honor Buffalo shooting victims in $1M tournament" . Democrat & Chronicle . Retrieved August 4, 2022 .
^ Lenzi, Rachel (July 21, 2022). "Blue Collar U team to honor Tops shooting victims, families at TBT" . Buffalo News . Retrieved August 4, 2022 .
^ Lenzi, Rachel (August 2, 2022). "Money in the bank: UB's Blue Collar U wins $1 million TBT prize" . Buffalo News . Retrieved August 3, 2022 .
^ Borzello, Jeff (August 2, 2022). "Blue Collar U downs Americana for Autism, takes home $1 million The Basketball Tournament title" . ESPN . Retrieved August 3, 2022 .
^ Lenzi, Rachel (July 22, 2022). "The shoes fit for UB's Blue Collar U in a 91–64 win in TBT opener" . Buffalo News . Retrieved August 4, 2022 .
^ Lenzi, Rachel (July 23, 2022). "Fourth-quarter comeback lifts UB's Blue Collar U to TBT Syracuse regional final" . Buffalo News . Retrieved August 4, 2022 .
^ Lenzi, Rachel (July 29, 2022). "No. 2 Blue Collar U to face No. 1 Heartfire in TBT Quarterfinals" . Buffalo News . Retrieved August 4, 2022 .
^ "Blue Collar U douses Heartfire, reaches TBT semifinals" . Buffalo News . July 29, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022 .
^ Jablonski, David (July 30, 2022). "The Basketball Tournament: Red Scare's run ends with loss to Blue Collar U in semifinals" . Dayton Daily News . Retrieved August 4, 2022 .
^ Bronstein, Jonah (August 2, 2022). "Blue Collar U cruises to TBT title, $1 million prize" . Niagara Gazette . Retrieved August 4, 2022 .
^ Bronstein, Jonah (June 21, 2023). "UB alumni team Blue Collar U open title defense as No. 1 seed July 24 in Syracuse" . Localsyr.com . Retrieved July 12, 2023 .
^ Bambi, Cole (July 24, 2023). "Blue Collar U comes back to win 78-77 in first game of 2023 TBT" . Buffalo News . Retrieved July 29, 2023 .
^ Bronstein, Jonah (July 24, 2023). "Blue Collar U displays brute Buffalo strength in largest Elam Ending comeback ever at TBT" . WIVB . Retrieved July 27, 2023 .
^ Bambini, Cole (July 26, 2023). "Blue Collar U uses 20-0 run to beat Virginia Dream" . Buffalo News . Retrieved July 27, 2023 .
^ Bronstein, Jonah (July 28, 2023). "Blue Collar U bounced from TBT by Boeheim's Army" . WIVB . Retrieved July 29, 2023 .
^ @thetournament (August 3, 2021). "These guys were amazing all summer Introducing your TBT 2021 All-Tournament Team!" (Tweet ). Retrieved August 3, 2021 – via Twitter .
^ @thetournament (August 2, 2022). "Introducing your TBT 2022 All-Tournament Team!" (Tweet ). Retrieved August 2, 2022 – via Twitter .
^ @thetournament (August 2, 2022). "Your TBT 2022 MVP is CJ Massinburg!" (Tweet ). Retrieved August 2, 2022 – via Twitter .
Tournaments Champions MVPs Related