One of my favorite memories from 13+ years of The Basketball Tournament (TBT) actually came after one of the hardest losses. I know that sounds crazy, but hear me out.
We lost the championship game in 2025. It wasn’t the first time, either. We’d lost in the final once before, back in 2018, and in 2024 we made the Final Four, one win away from playing for yet another championship. So when we got back to the title game in 2025, it felt like this was finally it. We were so close, and we came up short. AGAIN. The confetti fell, they got the check and, for the second time in a title game, we walked away with nothing. That’s winner take all.
Afterward, we sat together in the locker room. There were tears, guys sharing what the team and the experience meant to them, and just a lot of emotion after coming so close. I had the opportunity to pray over each of those guys, their lives and their families beyond basketball. It’s hard for me to even put into words what that moment meant to me, but I’ll never forget it.
I would have MUCH rather won, trust me. And in the moment, I certainly wasn’t thinking about how special that night would become. But looking back now, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. If we had won, we’d probably have been celebrating and going a hundred different directions. Instead, nobody had anywhere to be. We just sat there and did life together, and I think that made us closer than a win ever could have.
A year later, in year 13, we finally won it. Seven of those guys came back, along with several members of our staff, which made it that much sweeter. I’m thankful I’ve now been on both sides of it. When I look back on those two nights, what I remember most is who was in the room with me.
I’ve spent a lot of time lately thinking about teams and the people we surround ourselves with. Maybe that’s because I’ve now spent more than a decade involved with TBT. Maybe it’s because I’m building some new things in business. Or maybe I’m just getting old enough to appreciate some of this more than I did 10 or 15 years ago.
Whatever the reason, one of the things I keep coming back to is how little anything meaningful I’ve been a part of has actually been accomplished alone.
If you don’t know TBT, it’s a single-elimination summer tournament where professional basketball players compete for a winner-take-all prize. These days that’s $2 million and the games are on national TV. When we started, it was $500,000 and a lot smaller.
My TBT story started in year 1, 2014, when I played in the tournament with a group of my former Olivet Nazarene University teammates as the ONU Tigers. It was a blast, and I knew I wanted to do it again. But fan support was a huge part of getting into the field back then, and I figured it was only going to get harder as TBT started to get on the map.
That’s when a cold Twitter DM between me and Jake Hirschmann turned into a conversation about combining forces. He had his team, Eberlein Drive, and I had my ONU guys, and we both figured we’d have a much better shot at earning a spot in the field together than apart. So I joined Eberlein Drive.
The team was named after the dead-end cul-de-sac Jake grew up on and, maybe even more impressively, was coming off a 2014 run that Sports Illustrated had just dubbed the “lost cause” of TBT. Haha. So naturally, I thought… these are my guys.
I don’t think either of us had any idea what we were getting into.
Honestly, that whole beginning probably set the tone for the next decade. There always seemed to be another hurdle to figure out. One year we didn’t even get accepted into the tournament initially. TBT eventually left one final spot open and basically said it would go to the team that could raise the most money for Big Brothers Big Sisters. So, of course, we found a way to do that too.
Another year we traveled to the 2020 TBT bubble only to have a false-positive COVID test eliminate us before we ever got the chance to play a game. Seriously. You can’t make some of this stuff up.
Through all the different formats, qualification rules, heartbreaks, deep runs, changes and whatever else TBT has thrown our way, Jake and I are the only two who have been part of every iteration of this thing. We’re the general managers, which really just means we’re the do-it-all guys wearing every hat.
Before 2026, TBT raised its entry fee, and we knew we needed a financial partner to help keep this dream going. Ashley and Adam Davis stepped in, bought the naming rights and, in a lot of ways, poured gasoline on everything we’d spent years building. That’s how Eberlein Drive became Davis Steel. I’m so grateful to them, not just for the support, but for who they are: their generosity, how they treat everyone involved and their willingness to go above and beyond.
There have been hundreds of players, coaches and staff members, thousands of phone calls and texts, countless flights and hotel rooms, late nights, practices, recruiting conversations and probably more stress than any summer basketball tournament should reasonably create.
But after all these years, when I think about what TBT has given me, the wins aren’t really what come to mind first.
It’s the people.
I’m certainly not writing this because I think I’ve figured out some perfect formula for building a team. We have gotten plenty wrong over the years, and I know I have personally. I’ve made bad decisions, probably held onto things I should have delegated, missed things that should have been obvious and I’m sure there are people I could have treated better along the way. I’m still learning.
One thing I have become much more comfortable with, though, is understanding what I’m good at, being honest about what I’m not, and trying to surround myself with people who are better than me in those areas. I used to probably think leadership meant having the answers. I don’t anymore.
I think a huge part of building a great team is finding really good people, figuring out what makes them special, trusting them and sometimes getting out of the way. I don’t want a bunch of people around me who think exactly like I do or are good at all the same things. I want people who challenge me, fill gaps I have, see things I don’t and bring something to the table that I can’t.
There is probably no better example of that in my life than Jake.
It’s pretty wild to think that this entire partnership and friendship started that way. More than a decade later, Jake and I have been through just about every version of this journey together, and I honestly don’t know that I can adequately put into words what he’s meant to me personally or to what we’ve built together.
Our roles have always been a little different. I probably spend more time on the basketball side with relationships, recruiting, roster construction, scouting and some of those decisions. Jake brings an entirely different skill set and perspective. He’s an attorney, incredibly smart and talented, and someone I trust immensely. There are things he sees and does that I simply don’t, and that’s part of what has made our partnership work so well.
But for all the things Jake is good at professionally, what I’ve probably learned the most from is the way he serves people. There really is no job beneath him. This is a guy with a law degree who, while everyone else is sleeping, you may literally find at a laundromat at 3:00 in the morning making sure our players have clean uniforms and everything they need the next morning.
That’s not an exaggeration. That’s Jake.
Most people will never see those moments. Nobody is handing out awards for them and they certainly don’t show up in a box score, but those are the things that build a team. I’ve watched Jake sacrifice, serve and put other people first over and over again without worrying about who gets the credit for it. I hope he knows how much I’ve learned from him, how much I value our friendship and how little of what we’ve built happens without him.
I’ve also been incredibly blessed with the coaches we’ve had over the years. There are honestly too many to name, and I almost hesitate to single anyone out because each one deserves their own paragraph and their own stories. The same goes for our assistant coaches, trainers, content people, support staff, volunteers, friends and everyone else who has given their time to this thing over the last 13+ years.
But one coach I have to mention is Cody Toppert because I really believe he changed the trajectory of our story. Cody is an incredible basketball mind. Put a clipboard in his hand and he’s a savant. But as good as he is at the basketball part, that’s honestly not what has stuck with me most.
Cody is ELITE relationally. His ability to make people feel valued, important and believed in is something I’ve rarely seen. He invests in people, connects people and helps people without seemingly worrying about what he’s going to get back from it. Those of you who know Cody personally know exactly what I’m talking about. He’s taught me a lot about basketball, but even more about people and what it looks like to be a great leader.
There are so many more coaches and staff members I could write about and stories I would love to tell. Jake and I have actually started talking about trying to put this entire crazy 13+ year journey into a book someday, so maybe we’ll finally have enough pages to properly recognize everybody there. That’s a project for another day, but I really hope everyone who has been part of this thing knows how much I appreciate what they’ve given to it and to me personally.
And then there are the players.
We’ve had hundreds of guys come through our program over the years. For some, our time together may have been only a few days after an early-round exit. For others, it was a couple of weeks during a deep run. But for many of them, however short that time together was, it became the beginning of relationships and friendships that I value immensely and fully expect to have for the rest of my life.
Some of the best relationships in my life started because, if I’m being completely transparent, I initially needed something from somebody. I needed a player. I needed a coach. I needed somebody to make graphics. I needed help solving a problem.
But somewhere along the way, I’ve learned how important it is not to let the relationship stay there.
I want to actually know people beyond what they can do for me. I want to take care of them when I’m given the opportunity, help when there’s nothing immediately coming back my way, stay connected when I don’t need anything and genuinely care about what’s happening in their lives.
I certainly haven’t done that perfectly. But I think people know when you care about them and when you only care about what they can do for you. Some of the friendships I value most today started simply because we needed somebody to help us win basketball games for a few days or a few weeks one summer. Years later, basketball may barely even come up when we talk.
I think that’s pretty awesome.
Maybe one of my favorite examples of where a relationship can go is Zachary Hopp.
Zach and I first connected through an Instagram DM in 2017. He was a shy, quiet 17-year-old kid, and I basically reached out to see if he could help us make some social media graphics for Eberlein Drive. Neither of us could have had any idea where that relationship would go.
Since then, I’ve had a front-row seat to what I can only describe as a meteoric rise through the basketball world. I’ve watched Zach go from that quiet teenager making graphics into an elite basketball mind who has continued to climb the coaching ranks. But as proud as I am of what he’s accomplished professionally, that’s honestly not the part that means the most to me.
I’ve watched that shy 17-year-old become a man who is mature beyond his years, a husband and a father. Getting to watch someone’s life unfold like that and be even a small part of the journey is pretty special. I hope I’ve played some positive role in Zach’s life because I know he’s played one in mine.
And Zach is obviously just one example.
One of the incredible byproducts of this whole thing has simply been the number of people I’ve had the opportunity to meet along the way. My phone is filled with people I never would have known without basketball. Players, coaches, agents, executives, business owners and people from just about every walk of life, all over the country and really all over the world.
I don’t take for granted that I can pick up the phone today and call people in places and industries I had absolutely no connection to 13 years ago. But I also don’t ever want to look at that as simply a Rolodex of people who can do something for me. The blessing isn’t having a bunch of contacts in my phone. It’s knowing the people attached to those names and hopefully being someone they know they can call too.
I also don’t want any of this to make it sound like the last 13+ years have been perfect when it comes to relationships, because they haven’t been.
There have been disagreements, arguments, tension and relationships that haven’t ended the way I wish they had. I’ve made mistakes. I’m sure I’ve said things I shouldn’t have said, handled situations the wrong way or let the pressure of trying to win become more important in the moment than the person on the other side of it.
Those situations honestly stick with me, probably more than most of the games we’ve lost.
When a relationship is fractured or I know I could have handled something differently, that bothers me. I’m human and I’m going to continue to make mistakes, which is also why I’m incredibly thankful for grace. I need it just as much as anybody else.
My faith reminds me of that constantly, and hopefully it also makes me quicker to extend that same grace to other people. I’m still working on that too.
For years I told people I was going to keep doing TBT until I won a championship… and then I’d try to win 10 more.
None of this changes how competitive I am either. I’m CRAZY competitive. I want to win. Badly. I don’t apologize for that, and I don’t think that’s ever going to change. I’ve spent 13+ years trying to win this tournament, and losing still eats at me. For years I told people I was going to keep doing TBT until I won a championship… and then I’d try to win 10 more.
But I’ve also learned that some of the most meaningful moments have had very little to do with the final score.
There are also so many people who were never in those locker rooms but have been part of this journey in their own way. I’ve had friends all over the country follow this crazy thing for years. They’ve watched games on TV, followed along on social media, sent texts after tough losses when they knew I was hurting and hyped me up when things were going well. Some have been following this thing almost as long as I have.
Those texts, calls and words of encouragement have meant more to me over the years than those people probably realize.
And then there is my family.
My mom and dad have been my biggest fans for as long as I can remember, personally and professionally. I played more than 120 college basketball games all over the country, and I think I could count on one hand the number my dad missed. That support didn’t stop when my playing days ended either.
My parents have probably been two of our biggest TBT fans on the planet over the last 13+ years, right there with Jake’s parents. They’ve believed in me, encouraged me and cheered me on through just about everything I’ve ever tried. My two sisters have been along for the ride and supported me through all of this too.
I’m incredibly fortunate to have the family I do. I wouldn’t be where I am today without their belief, encouragement and support, and I probably don’t tell them that enough.
And then there’s my wife, Lindsey.
If we’re handing out an MVP award for this entire 13+ year experiment, there really isn’t much of a debate. It belongs to her.
There’s actually a pretty cool full-circle story with Lindsey and TBT. In year 1, fan support was a huge part of qualifying for the tournament, and Lindsey went all in helping us recruit fans and secure our spot in the field. She ended up recruiting more fans than anyone else in the entire tournament, making her TBT’s No. 1 fan.
That got us a trip to Boston for the championship, where she got to be on ESPN and present the winner-take-all check to Fighting Alumni, the Notre Dame alumni team that won it that year.
I don’t think either of us could have imagined at the time where this crazy tournament would take us, or that we’d still be doing it in year 13.
But this past summer, there she was again, holding that same giant check.
Only this time, our team had won it.
Year 1My wife, Lindsey, presenting the winner-take-all check to the inaugural TBT champions
Year 13Lindsey again, holding that same giant check. This time, it’s ours
The truth is, TBT isn’t a couple-week commitment for me every July. It’s YEAR ROUND. It’s taking a call from an agent during dinner because we’re trying to recruit a player. It’s getting a text and dropping whatever I’m doing because something suddenly came up. It’s roster conversations, calls, travel, planning and a million other things at times when I probably should be focused on something else.
And year after year, she’s put up with it, supported me and somehow continued to let me chase this “hobby.”
She’s the real MVP. No doubt. I don’t get to do any of this without her.
My in-laws deserve a shoutout too. Their support and help over the years has been such a blessing. This year they got to join us in Las Vegas for the regional and then followed us to Lexington for the championship too, and having everyone together along the way made it so much more special.
One of the coolest parts as I’ve gotten older has been getting to bring my kids along for the ride too. My boys have basically grown up around this team. They’ve been at practices, in locker rooms and around our players and coaches. This past summer they got to be right there with us on national TV when we finally got to lift the trophy. They’ve been along for so much of this journey with me, and those are memories I’ll never forget.
My daughter joined the party more recently and apparently doesn’t understand that TBT is supposed to be difficult. Final Four, runner-up and championship are basically all she knows. At this point I’m pretty convinced she’s our good luck charm. :)
Family
When I put all of this together, it’s hard for me to look at any of it as coincidence.
My faith in Christ is the most important thing in my life. I believe the Lord has used basketball, and now business, to put people in my path that I never would have met otherwise. Some have been in my life for more than a decade. Some may have only been around for a few days. Some came into my life because I needed a basketball player, a coach, a graphic designer or somebody to help solve a problem. Some literally started with a cold Twitter or Instagram DM.
At the time, I certainly wasn’t thinking about what those relationships might look like 10 or 15 years later. But so many of them became something much bigger than whatever brought us together in the first place.
The Lord gave me a passion for basketball, and I don’t think it was just so I could win games. As believers, we’re called to point people to Jesus, and basketball has opened doors for that in ways I never would have imagined. That locker room in 2025 is a good example. Getting to pray over our players and staff, and over their lives and families, is one of the things I’m most thankful for from all of this.
I love winning. Anyone who knows me knows that’s probably not changing anytime soon. Winning a championship after all these years was one of the coolest experiences of my life, and hopefully we’re not done yet. I still want to compete. I still want to build things. I still want to win.
But I never want the pursuit of those things to become more important than the people I’m pursuing them with.
Trophies are great, but eventually they end up on a shelf. Eternity is forever. As a Christian, I believe those who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ have the promise of eternal life with Him. And when I think about all the people the Lord has brought into my life through basketball, that’s what matters most to me. I want to win games, absolutely. But even more than that, I want the people I get to do life with to know Christ and spend eternity with Him.
So what’s next for me?
I honestly don’t know.
I’m 38 years old and, in a lot of ways, I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. There are some things I’m building right now that I’m really excited about, plenty of things I still want to accomplish and, knowing me, probably a few more crazy ideas coming somewhere along the way.
I don’t know exactly where any of it will lead, but I do know I won’t be doing it alone.
I’ll have really good people around me. People who are smarter than me in areas where I need help. People who challenge me, people I trust and people I can learn from. Hopefully I’ll have opportunities to invest in them, serve them and open some doors for them too. We’ll celebrate some wins together. We’ll probably sit through some losses together.
And if I’m lucky, some of the people I haven’t even met yet will someday become the kind of friends I’m writing about 10 or 15 years from now.
Winning the trophy was pretty awesome.
But the people the Lord has blessed me with along the way have been better.
And whatever comes next, I have a feeling the people I get to do it with will be the best part of that too.
