Blue Collar U

Last updated

Blue Collar U
Leagues The Basketball Tournament
Founded2021
HistoryBlue Collar U (2021–2023)
Team colorsBlue and white
  
General manager Bryan Hodgson
Head coachAdam Bauman
Assistant(s)Tom Fox, Wes Schier
Championships1 (2022)
Website Team page

Blue Collar U is an former 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 2024, the team announced they wouldn't compete in TBT anymore.

Contents

History

2021

In TBT 2021, Blue Collar U played in the Columbus regional and was seeded 6th out of a field of 16 teams.

DateRoundLocationScoreOpponentRef.
July 24First round Columbus, Ohio 88–82The Nerd Team [1]
July 25Second round93–83Zip 'Em Up [2]
July 27Regional semi-finals78–61Category 5 [3]
July 31Regional finals Dayton, Ohio 84–81The Money Team [4]
August 1Semi-finals62–78 Team 23 [5]

2022

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]

DateRoundLocationScoreOpponentRef.
July 22First round Syracuse, New York 91–64NG Saints [10]
July 23Second round78–75Friday Beers [11]
July 25Third round83–62The Nerd Team [12]
July 29Quarter-finals Dayton, Ohio 74–66Heartfire [13]
July 30Semi-finals74–69Red Scare [14]
August 2Finals89–67Americana for Autism [15]

2023

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.

DateRoundLocationScoreOpponentRef.
July 24First round Syracuse, New York 78–77Big 5 [18]
July 26Second round107–86Virginia Dream [19]
July 28Regional finals54–69 Boeheim's Army [20]

Roster

Blue Collar U roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.DOB (YYYY-MM-DD)
SF 0 Flag of the United States.svg Blake Hamilton 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)205 lb (93 kg)1994-10-26
PG 1 Flag of the United States.svg Lamonte Bearden 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)170 lb (77 kg)1995-10-30
SF 2 Flag of the United States.svg Jeremy Harris 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)185 lb (84 kg)1996-09-10
PG 3 Flag of the United States.svg Antwain Johnson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)197 lb (89 kg)1997-02-22
PG 4 Flag of the United States.svg Davonta Jordan 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)187 lb (85 kg)1997-05-12
SG 5 Flag of the United States.svg C. J. Massinburg 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)202 lb (92 kg)1997-04-14
SG 11 Flag of the United States.svg Antwon Lillard 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)200 lb (91 kg)1995-11-06
PG 15 Flag of the United States.svg Wes Clark 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)183 lb (83 kg)1994-12-12
PG 22 Flag of the United States.svg Dontay Caruthers 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)190 lb (86 kg)1995-06-23
C 33 Flag of the United States.svg Nick Perkins 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)249 lb (113 kg)1996-10-15
SF 43 Flag of the United States.svg Xavier Ford 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)175 lb (79 kg)1993-01-20
C 93 Flag of the United States.svg Montell McRae 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)198 lb (90 kg)1996-01-25
Head coach
  • Adam Bauman
Assistant coach(es)
  • Wes Scheier
  • Tom Fox
  • Edric Dennis Jr.
Team manager
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured
Updated: July 23, 2023

Awards

YearPlayerAwardRef
2021 Nick Perkins All-Tournament Team [21]
2022Nick PerkinsAll-Tournament Team [22]
Wes Clark All-Tournament Team
Adam BaumanAll-Tournament Team (coach)
C. J. Massinburg All-Tournament Team & MVP [23]

References

  1. ↑ "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.
  2. ↑ "6 BLUE COLLAR U 93, 3 ZIP 'EM UP 83". TBT. July 26, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  3. ↑ "DAYTON BOUND: Blue Collar U Halfway To $1 Million Prize". UBBulls.com. July 28, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  4. ↑ "6 BLUE COLLAR U 84, 5 THE MONEY TEAM 81". TBT. August 1, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ Slaughter, Marquel (July 27, 2022). "Led by Rochester native, their jerseys honor Buffalo shooting victims in $1M tournament". Democrat & Chronicle. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  7. ↑ Lenzi, Rachel (July 21, 2022). "Blue Collar U team to honor Tops shooting victims, families at TBT". Buffalo News. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ Lenzi, Rachel (July 29, 2022). "No. 2 Blue Collar U to face No. 1 Heartfire in TBT Quarterfinals". Buffalo News. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Blue Collar U douses Heartfire, reaches TBT semifinals". Buffalo News. July 29, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ Bronstein, Jonah (August 2, 2022). "Blue Collar U cruises to TBT title, $1 million prize". Niagara Gazette. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. ↑ 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.
  19. ↑ Bambini, Cole (July 26, 2023). "Blue Collar U uses 20-0 run to beat Virginia Dream". Buffalo News. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  20. ↑ Bronstein, Jonah (July 28, 2023). "Blue Collar U bounced from TBT by Boeheim's Army". WIVB. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  21. ↑ @thetournament (August 3, 2021). "These guys were amazing all summer Introducing your TBT 2021 All-Tournament Team!" (Tweet). Retrieved August 3, 2021– via Twitter.
  22. ↑ @thetournament (August 2, 2022). "Introducing your TBT 2022 All-Tournament Team!" (Tweet). Retrieved August 2, 2022– via Twitter.
  23. ↑ @thetournament (August 2, 2022). "Your TBT 2022 MVP is CJ Massinburg!" (Tweet). Retrieved August 2, 2022– via Twitter.
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