In July, The Basketball Tournament will bring together former college players so they can represent their university one more time, so the UWM Banner Boys are coming together to give their dream one more shot.
“This is kind of like a dream team for UWM fans,” said Joah Tucker, a former Panthers forward who graduated in 2006.
The UWM Hall of Famer was on two of the four Panther teams that made it to the NCAA tournament.
“The city really jumped on our back and showed a lot of great fanfare,” Tucker said. “So to be able to relive those memories with some of the same guys I played with is really a great experience.”
Over the next few weeks a roster will be narrowed down from championship players like Clay Tucker, Matt Tiby, Cody Wichmann, Jordan Aaron, Anthony Hill, Kaylon Williams and organizer Ed McCants. They’d be playing for a $2 million prize.
“Obviously two million is a huge number and gets a lot of people excited,” he said.
All $2 million wouldn't go straight to the players’ pockets. The team has something special in mind should they win it all.
“Heroin is an epidemic that's running rampant throughout our country,” Tucker said. “Ed decided to pick this as a charity to donate to and I think it's obviously a great idea.”
Two-hundred thousand dollars of the winnings would go towards the fight against heroin, but the Banner Boys need your votes to make it happen. The top nine teams from each region will be voted in, plus six at large bids and one play-in team. There are four regions to total 64 teams. Right now the Banner Boys are ninth in the voting. Marquette's Golden Eagles are second.
“Maybe we'll have the opportunity to play them and that's something the city of Milwaukee could really get excited about,” Tucker said.
Voting ends June 1 so be sure to cast your vote here.
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