Although Carmen’s Crew previously announced plans to participate in this summer’s rendition of The Basketball Tournament, head coach and general manager Jared Sullinger issued a statement on Tuesday saying the Ohio State alumni team won’t be able to compete.
“Since 2017, we’ve greatly enjoyed the opportunity to get back together and represent The Ohio State University, and we look forward to doing it again in 2023,” Sullinger said. “We hope that all of our fans will continue to support TBT at their events in Cincinnati, Dayton and around the country this summer.”
This was supposed to be the sixth tournament appearance for Carmen’s Crew, which was known as Scarlet & Gray for the first two years of play. The team won the championship and $2 million prize in 2019, but fell in the Round of 16 in last year’s tournament.
The roster was expected to look significantly different this summer, as Aaron Craft and Jon Diebler both said the loss to The Money Team would be the final game of their respective careers. They were hopeful Sullinger would be able to find younger former Buckeyes to fill their roles, though.
“This wasn’t just a five-year thing to when we’re all old and retired that there’s no more Carmen’s Crew in the TBT,” said Diebler, who is now on Thad Matta's staff at Butler. “We want to keep it going."
That said, Ohio State will still be represented at The Basketball Tournament, as guard Jimmy Sotos will suit up for Ex-Pats, a team comprised of former Patriot League players, and forward Marc Loving will play for About Billions, a team created by boxer Adrien Broner. Sotos notably played at Bucknell before transferring to Columbus ahead of the 2020-21 season.
Be sure to check out our new message boards, Buckeye Forums. We'd love to have you part of the conversation during the season.
More must-reads: