Blue Collar U

Blue Collar U is an American basketball team that participates in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), an annual winner-take-all single-elimination tournament. The team consists of professional basketball players, most of whom played college basketball for the Buffalo Bulls men's basketball team. The team began participating in TBT in 2021, reaching the semi-finals. Blue Collar U won its first TBT championship in its second year of participation in 2022, winning the $1 million grand prize.

Blue Collar U
LeaguesThe Basketball Tournament
Founded2021
HistoryBlue Collar U (2021–present)
Team colorsBlue and white
   
General managerBryan Hodgson
Head coachAdam Bauman
Assistant(s)Tom Fox, Wes Schier
Championships1 (2022)
WebsiteTeam page

History

2021

In TBT 2021, Blue Collar U played in the Columbus regional and was seeded 6th out of a field of 16 teams.

Date Round Location Score Opponent Ref.
July 24 First round Columbus, Ohio 88–82 The Nerd Team [1]
July 25 Second round 93–83 Zip 'Em Up [2]
July 27 Regional semi-finals 78–61 Category 5 [3]
July 31 Regional finals Dayton, Ohio 84–81 The Money Team [4]
August 1 Semi-finals 62–78 Team 23 [5]

2022

In TBT 2022, Blue Collar U played in the Syracuse regional and was seeded 2nd out of a field of 8 teams. Players wore the names of the victims of the 2022 Buffalo shooting on the backs of their jerseys in place of their own names.[6][7] They won the Syracuse regional with victories over NG Saints, an alumni team for Neumann Goretti High School in Philadelphia, Friday Beers, and The Nerd Team, an alumni team of Ivy League and other highly prestigious schools. After defeating Heartfire in the quarterfinals, Blue Collar U won a true road game against Red Scare, an alumni team of Dayton Flyers men's basketball. They defeated Americana for Autism in the finals to win the $1 million grand prize.[8][9]

Date Round Location Score Opponent Ref.
July 22 First round Syracuse, New York 91–64 NG Saints [10]
July 23 Second round 78–75 Friday Beers [11]
July 25 Third round 83–62 The Nerd Team [12]
July 29 Quarter-finals Dayton, Ohio 74–66 Heartfire [13]
July 30 Semi-finals 74–69 Red Scare [14]
August 2 Finals 89–67 Americana for Autism [15]

2023

In TBT 2023, Blue Collar U played in the Syracuse regional and was seeded 1st out of a field of 8 teams.[16] In the first round, Blue Collar U defeated Big 5, an alumni team comprised mostly of Philadelphia Big 5 schools with the largest comeback in the history of the Elam Ending.[17] After defeating Virginia Dream in the second round, they lost in the regional finals to Boeheim's Army, a team of primarily Syracuse Orange Basketball alumni.

Date Round Location Score Opponent Ref.
July 24 First round Syracuse, New York 78–77 Big 5 [18]
July 26 Second round 107–86 Virginia Dream [19]
July 28 Regional finals 54–69 Boeheim's Army [20]

Roster
Blue Collar U roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.Age
SF 0 United States Hamilton, Blake 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 28 – (1994-10-26)26 October 1994
PG 1 United States Bearden, Lamonte 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 27 – (1995-10-30)30 October 1995
SF 2 United States Harris, Jeremy 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 27 – (1996-09-10)10 September 1996
PG 3 United States Johnson, Antwain 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 197 lb (89 kg) 26 – (1997-02-22)22 February 1997
PG 4 United States Jordan, Davonta 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 26 – (1997-05-12)12 May 1997
SG 5 United States Massinburg, C. J. 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 202 lb (92 kg) 26 – (1997-04-14)14 April 1997
SG 11 United States Lillard, Antwon 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 27 – (1995-11-06)6 November 1995
PG 15 United States Clark, Wes 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 183 lb (83 kg) 28 – (1994-12-12)12 December 1994
PG 22 United States Caruthers, Dontay 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 28 – (1995-06-23)23 June 1995
C 33 United States Perkins, Nick 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 249 lb (113 kg) 27 – (1996-10-15)15 October 1996
SF 43 United States Ford, Xavier 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 30 – (1993-01-20)20 January 1993
C 93 United States McRae, Montell 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 27 – (1996-01-25)25 January 1996
Head coach
  • Adam Bauman
Assistant coach(es)
  • Wes Scheier
  • Tom Fox
  • Edric Dennis Jr.
Team manager
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured
Updated: July 23, 2023

Awards
Year Player Award Ref
2021 Nick Perkins All-Tournament Team [21]
2022 Nick Perkins All-Tournament Team [22]
Wes Clark All-Tournament Team
Adam Bauman All-Tournament Team (coach)
C. J. Massinburg All-Tournament Team & MVP [23]

References
  1. "Wes Clark's game-winning shot caps off Elam ending for UB's Blue Collar U". Buffalo News. July 24, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  2. "6 BLUE COLLAR U 93, 3 ZIP 'EM UP 83". TBT. July 26, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  3. "DAYTON BOUND: Blue Collar U Halfway To $1 Million Prize". UBBulls.com. July 28, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  4. "6 BLUE COLLAR U 84, 5 THE MONEY TEAM 81". TBT. August 1, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  5. Goldberg, Rob (August 1, 2021). "Boeheim's Army vs. Team 23 Set for The Basketball Tournament 2021 Final; Full Results". Bleacher Report. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  6. Slaughter, Marquel (July 27, 2022). "Led by Rochester native, their jerseys honor Buffalo shooting victims in $1M tournament". Democrat & Chronicle. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  7. Lenzi, Rachel (July 21, 2022). "Blue Collar U team to honor Tops shooting victims, families at TBT". Buffalo News. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  8. Lenzi, Rachel (August 2, 2022). "Money in the bank: UB's Blue Collar U wins $1 million TBT prize". Buffalo News. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  9. Borzello, Jeff (August 2, 2022). "Blue Collar U downs Americana for Autism, takes home $1 million The Basketball Tournament title". ESPN. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  10. Lenzi, Rachel (July 22, 2022). "The shoes fit for UB's Blue Collar U in a 91–64 win in TBT opener". Buffalo News. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  11. Lenzi, Rachel (July 23, 2022). "Fourth-quarter comeback lifts UB's Blue Collar U to TBT Syracuse regional final". Buffalo News. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  12. Lenzi, Rachel (July 29, 2022). "No. 2 Blue Collar U to face No. 1 Heartfire in TBT Quarterfinals". Buffalo News. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  13. "Blue Collar U douses Heartfire, reaches TBT semifinals". Buffalo News. July 29, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  14. Jablonski, David (July 30, 2022). "The Basketball Tournament: Red Scare's run ends with loss to Blue Collar U in semifinals". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  15. Bronstein, Jonah (August 2, 2022). "Blue Collar U cruises to TBT title, $1 million prize". Niagara Gazette. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  16. Bronstein, Jonah (June 21, 2023). "UB alumni team Blue Collar U open title defense as No. 1 seed July 24 in Syracuse". Localsyr.com. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  17. Bambi, Cole (July 24, 2023). "Blue Collar U comes back to win 78-77 in first game of 2023 TBT". Buffalo News. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  18. Bronstein, Jonah (July 24, 2023). "Blue Collar U displays brute Buffalo strength in largest Elam Ending comeback ever at TBT". WIVB. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  19. Bambini, Cole (July 26, 2023). "Blue Collar U uses 20-0 run to beat Virginia Dream". Buffalo News. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  20. Bronstein, Jonah (July 28, 2023). "Blue Collar U bounced from TBT by Boeheim's Army". WIVB. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  21. @thetournament (August 3, 2021). "These guys were amazing all summer Introducing your TBT 2021 All-Tournament Team!" (Tweet). Retrieved August 3, 2021 – via Twitter.
  22. @thetournament (August 2, 2022). "Introducing your TBT 2022 All-Tournament Team!" (Tweet). Retrieved August 2, 2022 – via Twitter.
  23. @thetournament (August 2, 2022). "Your TBT 2022 MVP is CJ Massinburg!" (Tweet). Retrieved August 2, 2022 – via Twitter.
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