In 2014, The Basketball Tournament, otherwise known was TBT, kicked off with $500,000 on the line, now the prize is $2 million and a Northeast Ohio team is eyeing the prize.
But first, Great Lakes Elite has to get in to this year's tournament.
"Are they going to be competitive enough to play against all the other team and to potentially win. B, do they have a good enough following, and through their following, do they have their support," said Great Lakes Elite General Manager Jake Lorbach.
Lorbach originally came up with the idea of starting the team. He was an assistant basketball coach at St. Edward's and turned to Head Coach Eric Flannery to lead the charge.
"I've coached the McDonald's game. I've coached the Jordan Classic with USA basketball. I think I've actually maybe had some of these guys at some of our mini camps and so on. To me, coaching is coaching," Flannery said.
The team is hoping the players will draw appeal, like former Ohio State Buckeyes Marc Loving and Kam Williams or members of the 2018 Final Four Loyola squad Marques Townes and Donte Ingram.
"For me, I am just happy to be able to compete with people that I know. You know, close friends of mine," Ingram said.
"It's another chance to play organized basketball in a tournament setting," Townes said.
If they can make the TBT selection process and get into the new and reduced 24 team field, a $2 million prize would be waiting for them at the end.
"That's a big prize, so I'm hoping we can win it. Because it would be really good for everybody on the team that competes," Townes said.
The TBT committee will start their selection of teams next week.
To show your support for Great Lakes Elite, follow them here.
