Familiar faces lead Team Arkansas in summer hoops

A rack of basketballs is shown during halftime of an exhibition game between Arkansas and Missouri Western on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, in Fayetteville.

For those longing for some Arkansas team sports action with the gap between the College World Series and the start of the 2018 football season, there will be a special treat Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m.

Several former Arkansas basketball standouts have joined forces for The Basketball Tournament as seventh-seeded Team Arkansas will face the 10th-seeded Tim Thomas Playaz at Long Island University’s Steinberg Wellness Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The Basketball Tournament is in its fifth year and features 72 teams with the championship team pocketing $2 million in a winner-take-all game on Aug. 3.

All Super 16, Elite 8 and Final Four games will be televised on ESPN and ESPN2, but the Razorback game on Saturday will only be televised via the WatchESPN app that is available on Smart TVs, computers, tablets and phones.

The Team Arkansas squad will be coached by Pat Bradley and led by former NBA player Ronnie Brewer, who joins former Razorbacks Michael Qualls, Moses Kingsley, Marshawn Powell, Dusty Hannahs, Rashard Madden, Alandise Harris, Jabril Durham and JaCorey Williams on the roster. No current NBA players can participate.

Former Razorback Nick Mason is serving as general manager and as an assistant coach for Team Arkansas.

Team Tim Thomas Playaz features players from nine different colleges. All have played some form of professional basketball either overseas or in the G-League, the NBA’s developmental league.

The games feature nine-minute quarters, allow for six fouls as the NBA does and have no overtime. They instead adopt the Elam Rule, which provides a target score for the win at the first dead ball under four minutes in the fourth quarter.

That score is achieved by adding the leading team’s current point total plus seven points.

A collection of Notre Dame alums won the initial tournament in 2014 while a squad dubbed the Overseas Elite has won the last three titles.

Ninety percent of the $2 million goes to the players, coaches, boosters and charity while fans who register as supporters for the team split the other 10 percent.

Team Arkansas leads in fan support with more than 2,380 fans as of Wednesday morning.

Action began in the tournament last weekend in the Hoopfest West and Northeast Regional pods as well South and West Regionals with the Northeast and Midwest Regionals being played this weekend.

The Super 16 — instead of being called the Sweet 16 — will be televised on ESPN and ESPN 2 and is set for Thursday, July 26 through Saturday, July 28 at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Ga.

The winners will stay at the same site and play in the Elite Eight July 29 in Atlanta with the four games starting at 10 a.m. on ESPN and ESPN2.

The semifinals will take place Thursday, Aug. 2 at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at The Fieldhouse at Morgan State University in Baltimore and will also be televised by ESPN.

The $2 million Championship Game will then be played at the same place Friday night at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

The Team Arkansas squad will be coached by Pat Bradley and led by former NBA player Ronnie Brewer, who joins former Razorbacks Michael Qualls, Moses Kingsley, Marshawn Powell, Dusty Hannahs, Rashard Madden, Alandise Harris, Jabril Durham and JaCorey Williams on the roster. No current NBA players can participate.