Zoo Crew Merges Past and Present of Pitt Basketball

The Pitt Panthers' involvement in The Basketball Tournament has brought multiple eras of the program together.

PITTSBURGH -- As the Zoo Crew, a team comprised of former Pitt Panthers players, ramps up to compete for a second consecutive season in The Basketball Tournament, the intersection between the past and the present that the group fosters has further elevated the iconography and connections that permeate through the program. 

Gilbert Brown, now Pitt's Director of Player and Alumni Development, will act as the team's general manager after doing so last year as well. During his appearance on The Jeff Capel Show on Thursday, Brown offered insight into his connection with his former teammates and the jubilation he feels when they all get together.  

“It’s an amazing feeling," Brown said. "It’s kind of nostalgic when we go over the memories and the moments that we had, we shared, the accomplishments. It’s like a sense of seeing a family member that you haven’t seen in a long time because those guys are my brothers. We stay in contact daily through our group chat, whether it be about Pitt basketball or about life, we’re always in constant contact.”

The Basketball Tournament, founded in 2014, typically features 64 teams in a single-elimination bracket and gifts $1 million to the winner. Pitt alumni competed as The Untouchables every year from 2016 to 2018 but ceased participation until rebranding and returning in 2023 where they lost in the first round of the West Virginia regional to Herd That, a team of former players from Marshall University.

Last year's Zoo Crew roster featured former Pitt stars Nelly Cummings, Greg Elliot, Gary McGhee, Ryan Luther, Jamel Artis, Levance Fields, Talib Zanna, Josh Newkirk, Sam Young, Nike Sibande (who did not participate in the event) and Brown, who also coached alongside DeJuan Blair and Jaron Brown. 

Last summer, the team practiced at the Petersen Events Center and spent considerable time around the Panthers' current roster, which allowed the two groups to mesh. Jeff Capel stated that it was a fantastic opportunity for his squad to soak up knowledge from some of the program's former frontmen and to see what representing Pitt on the hardwood truly means.

“We were very fortunate that they had a lot of interaction," Capel said. The biggest thing I wanted them [to do], number one, was to pick their brain of why their teams were so good. What was it about their teams and their approach and things like that? The other thing was that I wanted them to see the connection that those guys still have with each other and the pride that they continue to have putting that jersey on.”

Zoo Crew will further reacclimate itself with Oakland this upcoming summer and help fans satisfy their cravings for basketball upon hosting a regional in TBT for the first time in the event's history. The games will take place at the Petersen Events Center from July 19 through July 24 as Best Virginia, West Virginia's alumni team, and Happy Valley Hoopers, Penn State's alumni team, will both participate alongside the Zoo Crew.

Artis and first-timer Jamarius Burton currently headline this year's iteration of the Zoo Crew, though the roster won't be finalized until closer to the start of the tournament. 

Brown, who doesn't plan on playing this time around, spoke about the excitement that the players, fans and alumni share in bringing TBT to Pittsburgh, providing all parties involved with an experience that will invoke memories of the program's past for a modern-day audience. 

"I think it’s going to be amazing," Brown said. "A lot of the alumni and a lot of the guys are excited just thinking about the opportunity to play at Pitt and have a home court advantage like what we used to have in college. I think it’s going to be something special, it’s an exciting time for Pittsburgh, especially for those former guys since they put down the Pitt jersey.”

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