Montrezl Harrell Excited to Join Louisville's TBT Alumni Team

Harrell and Peyton Siva are the first two committed players for The Ville's 2024 roster.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Last summer, The Basketball Tournament allowed fans of the Louisville men's basketball program to relive former Cardinals glory when the UofL alumni team 'The Ville' made their TBT debut at Freedom Hall. This summer, fans will get to do it again.

Earlier this week, TBT announced that Freedom Hall and "The Ville" will once again serve as one of the eight regional host sites for the 2024 iteration of the event. The Louisville Regional will take place July 19-24, with the winner of the eight-team regional facing the winner of the Lexington Regional in the TBT quarterfinals.

The first confirmed player for The Ville's 2024 playing roster is Montrezl Harrell, a member of the Cardinals' 2013 national championship team and one of the most prolific dunkers in Louisville history. Harrell says he can't wait to get on the court.

"It's great being able to be a part of something that you've been watching for a long time, and able help grow a brand that hit the scene off and running," Harrell said. "I know multiple guys, from teammates to some of my close friends, who have played this tournament over the years. ... To actually go and be a part of it and actually play this year, it's gonna be a lot of fun.

"I'm going to be around a lot of guys who took different paths in their careers, been successful in their careers in different ways. It's going to be great to get back together, and just be around the guys that you did something special with in all your years in college."

Part of Harrell's decision to participate in this year's TBT was being able to see the event first hand and how electric it was. Harrell sat courtside for two of The Ville's three games at Freedom Hall last year, including their first round game against War Ready which drew 5,463 fans - the fourth-largest single game attendance in TBT history. The Ville eventually fell to Gutter Cats in the regional final.

"That was a great experience, man," he said. "I know the history of Freedom Hall, and was blessed to be able to be on teammates with guys who have played in that arena. To be a part of it and see a little bit of it, I can only imagine what it was like back then, when those guys was really rocking and having the arena fully packed out, man.

"It's a great space, and really still could be used as a top notch arena as far as any high school goes, or any event. Just to still see that part of the city, and atmosphere, to Louisville fans coming out, it's just always a great feeling. That's just how Louisville fans are."

However, the driving factor behind Harrell's decision to play in the TBT is to hopefully use it as a springboard to get back in the NBA. Last August while a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, Harrell suffered a torn ACL and meniscus during offseason workouts, then was waived by the Sixers last October.

Harrell is hoping that he can "build film to put myself back out there" during the TBT and get back on an NBA roster once the 2024-25 season rolls around. Former Louisville assistant coach Jordan Sucher, who was on The Ville's coaching staff last year, played a large role in helping recruit Harrell to the team to get that done.

"It was really just about getting back out there, and not really having people thinking that I'm done, or that my time in this game of basketball is over," he said. "Jordan is a great person. I've known Jordan since my freshman year coming into Louisville, and still have kept in contact with him throughout the years. He checks up on me and my family and my career, so when the opportunity presented itself, I was all in. I'm working my tail off to basically be back to the person that I was, simple as that."

Despite suffering the injury less than a year ago, Harrell says that he is ahead of schedule in his rehab. He had surgery in August, but is already cleared to participate in basketball workouts, and said he is roughly "90 to 95 percent" healed and expects to be good to go for the TBT.

Not only is he hoping that the TBT gets him back on an NBA roster when everything is said and done, preparation for the event has helped him clear mental hurdles that came with the injury.

"I love the game of basketball and I play all summer long man, so to actually have that come to an abrupt stop, it sucked," he said. "It definitely was a mental process that I had to really get past the first couple of months. Then after that, it's just the work. But that's never the hard part for me. I have no problem with working, I have no problem with trying to improve myself and better myself overall as a player and as a person. That's the easy part."

Harrell is one of two former Louisville players to be confirmed to the 2024 roster, joining point guard and former teammate Peyton Siva. Harrell is hoping to get more players from the 2013 title team involved with The Ville and their run in the 2024 TBT.

"Listen, I'm excited," he said. "I talked to Peyton when the news broke, and hopefully there's some more guys on the team. Russ (Smith), Wayne (Blackshear), Chane (Behanan), Luke (Hancock), hopefully we can get Slime (Michael Baffour) back.

"If we can get as many guys back from the team that we had that made that run, it'd be nothing but one of the best reunions in the world. We kind of did it when we came back to the city and had the ring ceremony, but to actually lace our shoes up and do it for the city once again, I think that's going to be something that's almost record breaking."

A three-year player for the Cardinals, Harrell averaged 15.7 points and 9.2 rebounds per game during his 2014-15 junior campaign and received the Karl Malone Award for the nation's top collegiate power forward that year. He finished his Louisville career as the program all-time dunk leader with 227, and as a national champion in 2013 as a true freshman.

The eight-year NBA veteran was selected with the 32nd overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets, where he spent the first two seasons of his career. He was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2017 offseason, where he played for three seasons and won the NBA's 2019-20 Sixth Man of the Year Award.

He has also played for the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets and Sixers. In 515 career regular season games, Harrell has averaged 12.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. His 61.9 field goal shooting percentage ranks as the fifth-best of all time.

(Photo of Montrezl Harrell: Mark Konezny - USA TODAY Sports)

You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleReport
Twitter - @UofLReport
Instagram - @louisville_report

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter