Team Arkansas Looking for TBT Deal with Calipari's Help

Former Razorbacks find out opponents Thursday, need influx of cash

Arkansas Razorbacks guard Jalen Tate reacts during the second half in the Elite Eight of the 2021 NCAA Tournament against the Baylor Bears at Lucas Oil Stadium. / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Monty Patel, head coach of Team Arkansas in The Basketball Tournament, has several questions he would like to have answered.

1. What company is going to nail down the advertising spot on the front of the Arkansas jersey so he can make sure all the bills for this year's travel get paid?
2. Who will be announced as Team Arkansas' opponent for the opening round of the Butler regional when pairings are announced on Thursday?
3. Is Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari willing to bring a regional of the TBT to Fayetteville next season like he did in helping La Familia, a team made of Kentucky alumni, get a regional in Lexington this year?

Based on his appearance on 103.7 The Buzz earlier this week, the idea of doing this is two-fold. Hosting brings in a new source of revenue for the team so it doesn't have to rely so heavily on sponsorship to meet basic needs.

Plus, it would allow Patel to throw a little more money toward the players and everyone else needed to make the pursuit possible. However, there's also a deeper reason to want to see it happen.

"When you host, you get revenue share out of the ticket, so you get to pay these guys a good chunk of change for at most six games," Patel said. "And you know, we're sponsoring out. But, the hope is he brought it there because he knew it would connect to the fan base of the older players. So we're hoping to bring it back here."

He even has a venue in mind that might breathe life into a facility in need of additional use beyond hosting the Razorbacks' less high profile gymnastics meets on the schedule.

"I think Barnhill would be a phenomenal arena to play at because you're not going to fill up Bud Walton with this, but Barnhill, you can make that place very, very violent, very, very fun," Patel said. "You get all your Arkansas people back in the seats, and it grows."

Of course, building that sort of following, even with Calipari's blessing of support, requires a combination of familiar faces and a winning culture. Last season proved Team Arkansas has both and the upcoming tournament has all the makings of building off previous success.

Team Arkansas advanced to the regional final where the Wichita-based host team, Aftershocks, hit a three late to keep Arkansas from advancing to championship week in front of over 9,000 in the 10,000-seat Koch Arena. For those unfamiliar with TBT, it's a 64-team NCAA Tournament style format, so Arkansas essentially lost in a heartbreaker in the Sweet 16.

As far as familiar faces, Jaylen Barford, Jalen Tate, Adrio Bailey and Hunter Mickelson of Razorbacks fame, along with Darius Hall, who began his career as a Hog before finding his shine as a star with the Central Arkansas Bears, provide the local anchor of the roster along with several key players from outside the state. One familiar name Arkansas fans will definitely recognize will likely be an opponent in this year's regional.

Rotnei Clarke, who is best known for setting an Arkansas and SEC record by hitting 13 threes in a single game while racking up 51 points, will play for Butler. After John Pelphrey was fired in favor of Mike Anderson, Clarke transferred to play for the Bulldogs, leaving the Nolan Richardson disciple without his top scoring option to begin his tenure as the Razorbacks head coach.

Fortunately for Patel, Mickelson didn't follow suit by joining up with Kansas players instead of going all in on Arkansas. He left for the Hogs for Kansas in 2013 and currently helps Patel with coaching at eStem High School.

"He's still better than half the players in TBT last year," Patel said. "He was my assistant. It's funny because Fran Frachilla is calling him out, and he's like, 'He's not even a pro player.' He's a high school assistant coach for the head coach, but he was player of the game for the two games we won, and had we won the third one, he probably would have been player of the game for that.

"He's in the best shape of his life. I mean, we'll drop off kids from a high school game at 11 p.m. and he'll be in the gym cranking one out at 3 a.m. and then he'll go work out our kids at 6 a.m. and I'm like, dude, like, you're an animal. I don't get how you're doing it."

Hogs fans will also see plenty of familiar faces with the Kentucky team Calipari helped make possible. With hosting revenue creating cash for former Wildcats players to pocket in case they don't win the $1 million in the championship game, La Familia landed the likes of Eric Bledsoe, Deron Lamb and Willie Cauley-Stein.

Whether Arkansas can eventually add to its list of high profile former Razorbacks will likely be determined by whether an agreement can be struck. Significant reductions in travel and food costs, plus a piece of the gate and the opportunity to play in front of Hogs fans once again makes the allure more enticing.

However, that's a something for Patel's future teams to evaluate. Right now they've got to finalize sponsorships so everything is squared away to face the opponent who will be revealed Thursday.

After all, if they're going to stop Clarke from dropping another 13 threes, they will need every dollar available to ensure they are in peak condition to stop him and continue their quest for $1 million.

"I've got a month left to find, hopefully find another $10-$15,000 to cover everything and be very comfortable and not be very frugal-frugal," Patel. "[We've] just got to keep finding, grinding away, reaching out to people. Six degrees of separation. Whatever it takes."

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