The Basketball Tournament (TBT), a 64-team, $1 million winner-take-all event televised live on ESPN, announced that Wichita will serve as one of the regional sites for the 2021 event, hosted by Visit Wichita and Wichita State University. Wichita State’s alumni team, the AfterShocks, will headline the 16-team Wichita Regional taking place at Charles Koch Arena, July 16-20.
All-session tickets, Festival Passes and single-session tickets for the TBT Wichita Regional are on sale now through the Shocker Ticket Office. The Festival Pass is valid for the first four sessions only, which includes July 16th and 17th competition. To order, visit goshockers.com/tickets or dial 316-978-FANS (3267).
“The last time the Aftershocks played a round one game in TBT, it shattered attendance records,” TBT founder and CEO Jon Mugar said. “From that moment on, we knew we had found a great home for TBT basketball in Wichita. We are excited to partner with Wichita State and return to Koch Arena this summer to experience that passion once again.”
Two pods will be made up of eight teams each who will compete in the Wichita Regional from July 16-20, with all games shown on ESPN.
Commitments for the AfterShocks’ 2021 roster include Conner Frankamp, Rashard Kelly, Markis McDuffie, Darral Willis, Tekele Cotton, Toure’ Murry and Samaje Haynes-Jones. Iowa State alum Tyrus McGee, Central Michigan alum David Deleo and Maryland alum Damonte Dodd round out the roster. Ron Baker will serve as general manager of the AfterShocks. Zach Bush will serve as head coach and JR Simon and Garrett Stutz as assistants.
The No. 15 seed Ex-Pats, an all-star team of former Patriot League plays will be the AfterShocks first test. Other teams in the AfterShocks pod include Purple & Black (Kansas State alumni), Omaha Blue Crew (Creighton alumni), Challenge ALS, Team Arkansas (University of Arkansas alumni), Fort Worth Funk (TCU Alumni) and We Are D3.
The second pod includes No. 1 seed Eberlein Drive, LA Cheaters (Drew League), Florida TNT, The Enchantment (New Mexico alumni), Stillwater Stars (Oklahoma State alumni), Kimchi Express, Mental Toughness and NG Saints (Philadelphia’s Neumann-Goretti high school alumni team).
To learn more about the teams headed to Wichita, go here: https://thetournament.com/regions/wichita/
First-round games at Koch Arena will be played Friday, July 16 and Saturday, July 17. Second-round games will all be played on Sunday, July 18, and two third-round games will be on Tuesday, July 20.
Two teams from Wichita, as well as six other teams from TBT’s three remaining regionals, will advance to Championship Weekend at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio, from July 31-Aug. 3.
The field consists of international pros, college alumni teams, ex-NBA players, future NBA players and others. The 63-game event will take place July 16 - August 3.
For the fourth year in a row, TBT games will feature the Elam Ending, the end-of-game format adopted by the NBA All-Star game for the past two years, that eliminates the game clock after a certain point and features teams playing to a Target Score.
Wichita was slated to host a 2020 regional before the COVID-19 pandemic pushed TBT to create a 24-team “bubble” in Columbus, Ohio, making TBT the first sporting event in the United States to crown a champion amidst the nationwide lockdown. As a first-time host site in 2019, Wichita broke the TBT attendance record for four straight days, drawing 20,000 fans to Charles Koch Arena to see the Aftershocks compete in their first TBT. The Aftershocks’ first game against Iowa United drew a record 7,184 fans.
Regional Host Cities
- Wichita, Kan. – headlined by AfterShocks (Wichita State alumni) – July 16-20
- Charleston, W.Va. – headlined by Best Virginia (West Virginia alumni) and Herd That (Marshall alumni) – July 17-21
- Columbus, Ohio – headlined by Carmen’s Crew (Ohio State alumni) and Red Scare (Dayton alumni) – July 23-27
- Peoria, Ill. – headlined by Always A Brave (Bradley alumni) and House of ‘Paign (Illinois alumni) – July 24-28
Championship Weekend in Dayton
- Quarterfinals – Saturday, July 31
- Semifinals – Sunday, Aug. 1
- $1 Million, Winner-Take-All Championship – Tuesday, Aug. 3
While you’re in town, book a hotel, check out all the things to do in Wichita and our calendar of events.
