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Enchantment team gets ready to tip off at the TBT Tournament
Enchantment coach Kenny Thomas, top right, talks to the team before the start of a fundraising scrimmage against the 505 All Stars at the Bosque School on Sunday.
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Maybe the third time will be the charm for The Enchantment.
The roster of former New Mexico Lobos, New Mexico State Aggies and a few others who never played for either of the state’s two high-profile programs take the court Wednesday in Lubbock, Texas, in the opening round of the 64-team, $1 million winner-take-all TBT (The Basketball Tournament).
And if you ask the team’s coach, Lobo great and former NBA player Kenny Thomas, the mix of players on this roster may just be the best yet for The Enchantment.
“We’ve had some good teams the last few years, but this team is more athletic,” Thomas said. “It’s something that we were lacking because we were playing against guards that were getting to the basket and we had nothing there (to stop them). And now it’s like a totally different situation. We can run lobs, a couple of the bigs can push the ball out, we share the ball ... I don’t care, I just want to run. But if you’re not gonna play defense, you’re not gonna play.”
The Enchantment tips off action Wednesday at 5 p.m. MT (streaming on ESPN+) against Austin’s Own, a team primarily of University of Texas alumni.
A win would likely put The Enchantment in a Friday round-of-32 game against regional host The Air Raiders, a team of Texas Tech alumni with the regional final to follow on Saturday.
The championship of the TBT is Aug. 3.
WHO ARE THESE GUYS? The players on this season’s The Enchantment squad, put together by general manages Brandon Mason and Ryan Berryman, include:
• Former Lobos Darington Hobson, Roman Martinez, Troy Simons and Jamal Fenton. While still listed on the roster, former Lobo Vance Jackson was unable to make the trip to Lubbock.
• Former Aggies Johnny McCants, Brandon West and Evan Gilyard.
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• Non-Lobos/Aggies Scott Bamforth (Del Norte High School), Christian Cunningham (Cibola High School) and Lamar Morinia (Manzano High School).
The team has four coaches that will be on the bench Wednesday in Thomas, Craig Snow and Michael Murphy, each with former UNM ties, and Michael Nanez, a former Aggie.
TBT HISTORY: The Enchantment went 0-1 in Year 1 in 2021 in Wichita, Kansas — letting a 23-point third quarter lead slowly but steadily evaporate before losing to the Stillwater Stars, a team of Oklahoma State alumni, 84-83.
Last year, TBT played a regional in the Pit in which The Enchantment went 1-1 — an intense 89-82 win over The Panamaniacs, composed mostly of NMSU alumni, and a 79-74 loss in the regional semifinal to Team Heartfire.
ON THE CALL: The broadcast team for all four of Wednesday’s TBT games in Lubbock will be play-by-play broadcaster Chris Vosters and ESPN college basketball analyst and one-time college basketball coach Seth Greenberg.
Former UNM Lobos coach Fran Fraschilla will be the analyst on various games from the Wichita State regional and later in the tournament will be on the broadcast team for the semifinals and championship games Aug. 2-3.
