Ducks Digest

Oregon Men’s Basketball Alumni Unite on “Team Always Us”

Ten former Ducks will compete in The Basketball Tournament for $1 million this summer.

Dylan Reubenking

“Always Us.” It's a mantra that Dana Altman’s teams have used for several years to bring a sense of unity and teamwork.

This summer, that mantra will mean something a little different.

Ten former Oregon men’s basketball players have formed an alumni team — called Team Always Us — that will compete in The Basketball Tournament for a shot at the $1 million prize. The tournament will begin on July 16 and will air on ESPN.

The roster includes:

  • Casey Benson (2014-17)
  • Johnathan Loyd (2010-14)
  • Joe Young (2013-15)
  • Jalil Abdul-Bassit (2013-15)
  • Dwayne Benjamin (2014-16)
  • MiKyle McIntosh (2017-18)
  • LJ Figueroa (2020-21)
  • Paul White (2016-19)
  • Shakur Juiston (2019-20)
  • Elijah Brown (2017-18)

Team Always Us will be coached by current Oregon men’s basketball Director of Operations Josh Jamieson. The general manager will be former program manager Robbie Ellis, and current manager Brian O’Reilly will serve as the assistant general manager.

The eighth annual tournament will consist of 64 teams playing across four regional sites — Wichita, Kansas; Charleston, West Virginia; Peoria, Illinois; and Columbus, Ohio — in a single-elimination format. The championship game takes place in Dayton, Ohio, on Aug. 3.

This year’s tournament is back to its normal 64-team format after a 24-team tournament and was used and all of the games were played in Columbus last summer due to the pandemic. The reigning champion is the Golden Eagles — consisting of mostly Marquette alumni — led by 2020 Most Valuable Player Darius Johnson-Odom.

Former Oregon guards Anthony Mathis and Devoe Joseph will also compete in the tournament, but Mathis will play with The Enchantment — a team made up of New Mexico alumni — and Joseph will play with Tubby Time — a team consisting mostly of Minnesota alumni.

Team Always Us is already considered to be one of the best rosters in The Basketball Tournament field, as Inside TBT, the official podcast of the tournament, ranked the team No. 6 on its power rankings list.

The Basketball Tournament will give Oregon fans another chance to watch some former Oregon greats donning the green and yellow once again.

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Dylan Reubenking
DYLAN REUBENKING

Dylan Reubenking is a graduate of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. He was a sports reporter for Duck TV Sports and a broadcaster for KWVA Sports 88.1 FM. He has dabbled in news and sports reporting, copyediting, graphic design, video production, podcasting, layout design, and more. Dylan is also the co-founder and publisher of The Transfer Portal CFB, a multimedia college football platform that launched in August 2021.

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