The Red Scare returns for million-dollar run in The Basketball Tournament

Photo from TBT 2022 taken by Flyer News.

Zoë Hill | Contributing Writer

The Red Scare — University of Dayton’s alumni basketball squad — is back to once again battle for $1 million in 2023’s The Basketball Tournament. 

The 64-team, winner-take-all tournament kicked off July 19 with initial games in its round of 64. Spanning across the country with games in eight cities, TBT will open in Dayton Wednesday. 

Everything tips off at 1 p.m. when Friday Beers, the No. 2 seed that competed last summer as Armored Athlete, takes on No. 7-seed Athletics Miami.

The Dayton regional continues at UD Arena with a match-up of No. 3-seed Team Colorado, the University of Colorado alumni team, and No. 6-seed Purdue University alumni team Men of Mackey. No. 4-seed Ohio State University’s alumni team, Carmen’s Crew, will play No. 5-seed Team Overtime. The Red Scare, a No. 1 seed, will finish out the night with a game against No. 8-seed India Rising at 8 p.m. 

The UD alumni team earned its No. 1 seed spot during last year’s tournament. The former Flyers made it all the way to the semifinals of the single-elimination tournament but fell 69-74 to the Blue Collar U, the University at Buffalo alumni team, who went on to win the tournament finals held in Dayton. 

This year’s The Red Scare squad consists of Dayton alumni Chris Wright, Darrell Davis, Jeremiah Bonsu, Jordan Sibert, Rodney Chatman, Ryan Mikesell and Scoochie Smith. Richmond alum Terry Allen, Davidson’s Jordan Barham and Wright State’s AJ Pacher complete the team lead by head coach, general manager and Dayton alum Joey Gruden. 

UD Arena will also play host to two games Friday for the Round of 32, a Sweet 16 game on Saturday and an Elite 8 game on Monday. Tournament Final Four and Championship games will be played in Philadelphia at Drexel University’s Daskalakis Athletic Center Aug. 2-3. 

TBT games, including The Red Scare’s Wednesday match-up, will be streaming live on ESPN+. 

For more information on the tournament visit: https://thetournament.com/tbt/2023-schedule/