Marshall’s “Herd That” is now West Virginia’s Team to Cheer For in the TBT

The West Virginia alumni team called “Best Virginia” was forced to withdraw from The Basketball Tournament (TBT) after several players on the team contracted COVID-19.

Best Virginia was scheduled to take on the Marshall Alumni team, “Herd That” before being forced to withdraw from the tournament.  “Herd That” features five former Marshall players and five players from various schools around the country.  Ryan Luter played at Pittsburgh, Zach Smith at Texas Tech, Santino Ditrapano at University of Charleston, Chris Cokley at UAB and Jacorey Williams at Middle Tennessee, but this team has come together and meshed really well together in a very short period of time.

The Elmore Brothers are the real heart of the team, however.  Jon Elmore is Marshall’s all-time leading scorer and his older brother Ot Elmore – with his dad bod and balding head – has quickly become the face of the TBT this summer.

In the first round of the TBT, Herd That was dynamic in beating the Peoria All Stars 80-65.   Ot Elmore, the team’s general manager/player, said of his team, “The talent disparity is not as great as people want to make it out to be.  I’ll ride with my guys any day of the week.”

Herd That will have three days off before their second-round matchup against No. 7 seed The Money Team Thursday at 2 p.m. The Money Team, which featured former WVU forward Devin Williams, received a bye in the opening round.

“Some of the guys are probably going to drink a couple cold ones, kick back and watch some of the rest of the games,” said Jon Elmore. “We are fired up and are looking forward to getting ready for The Money Team.”

The Money Team, the 7th ranked team in the tournament, features former West Virginia Mountaineer Devin Williams and will be a very challenging game for Herd That.  With Best Virginia out and a group of lovable players on the team, Herd That has become not only the team that the state of West Virginia can cheer for but it’s become the team that the whole basketball community has rallied around.

Herd That versus The Money Team will take place this Thursday at 2PM live from Columbus, Ohio on ESPN.