Octavius Ellis, Shaq Thomas Discuss UC TBT Team

CINCINNATI — The Basketball Tournament tips off in a little over two weeks, and the Nasty Nati squad is ready to make a statement in the $1 million winner-take-all event. Former UC players Kevin Johnson and Cane Broome organized the team throughout the past six months, installing 11-year NBA veteran Corie Blount as the team’s head coach, while Broome is the team’s assistant. Nasty Nati’s current roster includes:

• Shaq Thomas (2012-16)
• Troy Caupain (2013-17)
• Octavius Ellis (2014-16)
• Coreontae DeBerry (2014-16)
• Jacob Evans (2015-18)
• Jarron Cumberland (2016-20)
• Trevon Scott (2016-20)
• Isaiah Miller (UNC-Greensboro)
• Marquez Letcher-Ellis (Rice)
• Ty Jordan (Malone University)

Ellis and Thomas are excited to start the journey and discussed the upcoming event with the media this week.

On playing in the tournament right here in Cincinnati:

Ellis: I'm very excited to be playing, especially to be playing with a group of guys I'm very known for playing with. The main part is, I'm just happy to be playing with my ex-teammates. My old brothers.

Thomas: I'm just more so happy to go back to Cincinnati and play in front of Cincinnati fans. Not playing with fans overseas for the last couple of years, you know it's been kind of tough. You know, with COVID and everything, so I think it's a lot of excitement for this group of guys to come back and especially play back in Cincinnati in front of the UC fans. I'm very excited for that.

On how their scrimmage session before the tournament will benefit them as a team:

Thomas: Yeah, I think it's going to help us out a lot, just to get a feel for each other. You know we are all different as far as our professional careers and play different roles on different teams, so I think it will be a good tune-up for us to go against a team like Xavier that Saturday. And obviously, we are going to have a couple practices before that as we try and get guys in the loop.

On their chances of winning the $1 million winner-take-all prize:

Ellis: That all depends on us. Depends on how we approach the TBT. Which, I'm pretty sure we are gonna approach it (the right way) because that's what we all came here to do. We're not there to just waste time and have a memory banquet or something like that. I think this is why we got this good core group of guys. We are all professionals so like Shaq said, we are just going to take it one game at a time.

Thomas: Yeah, I definitely do (think we can win it all). I think with our versatility, our size, and you know, the only guy that I (didn't) play with out of the core guys from UC is (Jarron) Cumberland. So even Trevon (Scott), he redshirted my senior year. So I'm very familiar with the guys, I know what they bring to the table, and I think everybody's at a good stage in their professional career. Everybody's doing well, and I think if we come out and we bring that old Cincinnati Bearcat defense and the intensity then I think we have a good chance.

On UC moving into the Big 12:

Ellis: Like you said, that's big time. I can only imagine playing against those top teams on an every-other-night basis. That would've been crazy.

Thomas: Yeah, I got a little taste of the Big East for one year, so I think it's definitely great for the school and for the players there. I think it's going to be great for the program. Football, basketball, all sports there.

On bringing the 2012 and later era back together for this event:

Thomas: When Kevin (Johnson) had told me in December that they were having the location in Cincinnati at Xavier we all got in a group chat, and we started talking about it, and it all just came together. Just knowing this is the perfect time for all of us to come back, to come back to Cincinnati. Especially playing in Cincinnati, I think it's going to be a great atmosphere.

On the versatility they have on the Nasty Nati Roster:

Ellis: In today's game of basketball, it's positionless basketball. That's what guys like Tre Scott, Shaquille Thomas he can guard one through five. I really don't know much about Isaiah Miller and the other guy's game because overseas we don't get to watch much NBA because it be hard to watch at four o'clock in the morning. But yeah, we bring a lot of versatility to the table.

Nasty Nati plays the Fort Wayne Champs on Monday, July 18 at 6 p.m. ET in the Cintas Center. Should Nasty Nati advance to the second round, they face the winner of Florida TNT and AboutBillions on Wednesday, July 20 at 6 p.m. ET.

The earliest and only time UC and Xavier's teams can officially match up is in the Xavier Regional championship game on Thursday, July 21 at 7 p.m. ET. Whoever wins that matchup heads to Dayton for Championship Week. With the quarterfinals tipping off on July 28, leading into the semifinals on July 30 and the $1 million Championship Game on Aug. 2.