Ten years ago, the Bradley Braves mens basketball team upset a couple of big name college hoops programs on the way to its first Sweet 16 appearance in half a century. This summer, the core of that team reunited to form Always A Brave, an alumni basketball team that is competing in the little known, third year The Basketball Tournament.

The TBT is a winner-take-all tournament, where the winning teams’ players, coaches and some of its fans will split a $2 million prize. The team has rattled off four straight wins – the last two televised on ESPN 2 – to advance to Saturday’s semifinal game against Team Colorado, which will be televised on ESPN, starting at 4 p.m.

This evening from 5-8 at the Buffalo Wild Wings at Grand Prairie, the team is hosting a send off before their trip to New York for the semifinal game. Wear Bradley gear and the restaurant will donate 15% of the proceeds to the Marcellus Sommerville Foundation.

Always A Brave is made up mostly of players from the 2006 Sweet 16 team. About half the team is still playing professional basketball overseas. Dave Reynolds breaks down the team HERE.  Good luck this weekend to a good group of guys, many I’ve met over the years. Their Sweet 16 accomplishment will live on for years, and this year’s successful on court reunion has been pretty damn impressive, too. And I’m sure, the nine guys and two coaches could use a spare $150,000 if they win it all Tuesday night in New York

Doc Watson