Lubbock chosen as one of host cities for 2023 TBT
Basketball is coming to Lubbock this summer.
The Basketball Tournament and Visit Lubbock announced on Thursday that the Hub City has been selected as one of the eight host cities for the 2023 edition of the blossoming tournament. Games will be played July 19-23 at United Supermarkets Arena.
“After my last year at Texas Tech, I always wished I could go back and play in the USA just one more time,” former Texas Tech men’s basketball point guard Matt Mooney said in the news release. “TBT gives us a chance to relive those great moments and play in front of the best fans in the country again. It’s going to be a lot of fun!”
Texas Tech was first represented in TBT in 2022 with the birth of the Air Raiders, comprised mostly of former Red Raider men's basketball players. According to the news release, Matt Mooney, Davide Moretti and Tariq Owens — members of the Tech squad that advanced to the NCAA championship game in 2019 — have committed to play for this year's team.
Lubbock is the latest host city to be announced, joining Wichita, Louisville, West Virginia, Syracuse and Dayton.
“We are excited to bring the Elam Ending to Texas for the first time this summer,“ TBT founder and CEO Jon Mugar said. “We would like to thank our partners at Visit Lubbock for their support. Together, we anticipate an electrifying regional, anchored by a powerful Texas Tech alumni team. Based on how awesome this fanbase has been online, we expect Lubbock to break our all-time single-game attendance record.”
TBT is a 64-team, single-elimination tournament played each summer with the winning team taking home the grand prize of $1 million. This will be the 10th anniversary of TBT with games to be played this summer.
The Air Raiders went 1-1 as the No. 4 seed in the Wichita regional in their TBT debut. They defeated B1 Ballers in the first round and fell to After Shocks in the second round.
The rest of the Air Raider roster will be announced on @AirRaidersTBT social media pages leading up to the tournament.
Tickets to the Lubbock Regional are scheduled to go on sale May 1 to those on the TBT ticket waitlist. The general public can purchase tickets starting May 4.
More information on TBT can be found at thetournament.com.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock chosen as one of host cities for 2023 TBT
