Former MSU greats reunite for $2 million tournament

When Brandon Wood first heard about The Basketball Tournament, he knew it would be the perfect way to bring together different generations of Michigan State basketball players.

So, as the $2 million event enters its third year, Wood is putting together an impressive group of former Spartans to take part in the event — a 64-team tournament that begins with the Spartan Heroes playing at a regional July 16-17 in Chicago.

The Tournament has other regional sites in Los Angeles, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Philadelphia. The Super 16 will take place in Philadelphia July 21-23 and the semifinals and finals will be held July 30 and Aug. 2 at Fordham University in New York.

Wood, who played just one season (2011-12) at Michigan State as a graduate transfer from Valparaiso, made his first phone call to Derrick Nix. The next went to Delvon Roe. From there, everything started coming together.

“It kind of came together quick,” said Wood, who just finished playing in Israel. “I believe the tournament began to register the teams about a month or two ago, so I reached out to a couple of players to see if they would be interested in playing if they were available and they said, ‘Yeah.’

“So I reached out to a couple more and got a couple more confirmations that they could play and then we had a team together and it kind of started rolling from there.”

Also committed to play are Charlie Bell, Brandan Kearney, Korie Lucious, Raymar Morgan and Durrell Summers. Former Bowling Green player Nate Miller is also on the roster while former Spartan Travis Walton will coach the team.

The roster is still coming together, and Wood said Shannon Brown has said he will play if he’s healthy.

“I talked to Shannon and he told me he’s rehabbing, but he told me by then he should be healthy and he should be good to go,” Wood said. “So he told me he’d definitely play depending on his health.”

The team, as it stands, is a diverse group.

Bell played a significant role on the 2000 national championship team. Several others have been to a Final Four. Others, like Brown and Bell, have had significant NBA careers, while the rest have played overseas.

And while the goal is to win, the camaraderie of playing with fellow Spartans is important.

“To me it’s more about coming together as Spartans, having guys from different years and being through different things and having their own journey,” Wood said. “Being a Spartan — I was only there a year and some players were there all four years and were national champions, some made it to the NBA. So, a variety of different guys.

“That’s what I’m really looking forward to, just being able to step up and be a leader and bring this group together. I think aside from the event, just us coming together, it already is a story in itself, but I think it really has the potential to be something very big.”

Wood said the week before the tournament begins the team plans to convene at Michigan State and start working together to “get on the same page.”

And while there will be plenty of reminiscing, it’s still a group of players who know something about winning.

“We’re ready to compete,” Wood said. “We’re going in to compete, we’re going in to win, for sure.”

The total purse for the tournament has increased significantly. It was $500,000 in 2014 and went up to $1 million in 2015. Now at $2 million with the championship game to be televised on ESPN, it is becoming a big event.

Fans play a role, too, as the teams with the most votes earn a spot in the 64-team tournament. The Spartan Heroes are fifth in the Midwest with 943 votes. To vote for the Spartan Heroes, fans can go to www.thetournament.com/teams/spartan-heroes-michigan-state-alumni. If the team gets to 2,000 votes, it can add a 12th player called “The Ringer,” for the Super 16.

Who could that be for the Spartan Heroes?

“We’ve got some things in the works,” Wood said. “It could get even bigger, so looking forward to the next week or so.”

Bess headed to Akron

Javon Bess, who announced he would transfer from Michigan State after last season, is headed to the University of Akron, according to CBS Sports.

Jon Rothstein of cbssports.com tweeted Sunday that Bess, a Columbus, Ohio, native, will play for the Zips. He will have two years of eligibility after sitting out the 2016-17 season.

mcharboneau@detroitnews.com

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Spartan Heroes

List of committed players:

■Brandon Wood (2011-12)

■Charlie Bell (1997-2001)

■Brandan Kearney (2011-12)

■Korie Lucious (2008-11)

■Raymar Morgan (2006-10)

■Derrick Nix (2009-13)

■Delvon Roe (2008-11)

■Durrell Summers (2007-11)

■Travis Walton, coach (2005-09)

■Nate Miller (2006-09)*

*Played at Bowling Green