'Memphis-made' Team 901 back after six years, aiming for TBT success in Louisville

Sergio Kerusch was draining 3-pointers under the dim gym lights at Kingsbury High School. Chandler Lawson and CJ Anderson were busy running wind sprints up and down the court.

The squeaks of their sneakers against the waxed floor echoed throughout the gym on an early July morning.

“We've got 20 seconds to be great,” Quintin Delaware, Team 901's coach and general manager, told the players as he looked down at his stopwatch.

United as part of Team 901, a total of 11 basketball players with Bluff City ties, were brought together by Delaware to prepare for the team's return to The Basketball Tournament − a 64-team, single-elimination tournament whose winner claims a $1 million prize.

Team 901 held a practice before they leave for The Basketball Tournament, an open invitation and single elimination tournament on July 17, 2025 at Shoot 360 Memphis.

Team 901 opens as a No. 6 seed and will face No. 3 seed Florida DRC on July 19 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky in the first round. Team 901 has been building toward this moment since making its TBT debut in 2019.

Team 901 features 'hometown heroes'

Delaware created this team to showcase the Memphis-made athletes who have already found success in the NBA or overseas.

“Everybody on our roster went to public school here, went to middle school here, went to elementary here,” Delaware said. “They’re kind of somewhat hometown heroes now in our small community. So, the purpose of building Team 901 from the get-go was to shine light on the professional players that actually didn’t go to the University of Memphis and went to other collegiate schools."

When Delaware was building the team in 2019, he was quickly introduced to the fast-paced nature of TBT. He was only notified three days before the tournament began that Team 901 would be competing.

"I met probably half of our team on game day, like at a training," Delaware said.

In their first game playing in TBT in 2019, Team 901 faced Beale Street Boys (whose roster was made up of University of Memphis alumni) at Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Although Team 901 had the lead going into halftime, the lack of chemistry caught up with them and they were eliminated.

"I know we didn’t have great preparation for the first year because it was kind of like a throw-in thing," Team 901 player Marcus Tarrance said.

But Team 901 is entering this year's TBT with a different approach, starting with an almost brand-new roster. Tarrance, 33, is the only player from the previous team. The roster also includes Cam Jones, Jalen Dupree, Marcanvis Hymon, Mike Fofana, Nate Hoover, Shawn Taggart and Terrico White.

Anderson played in TBT in 2023 with a UMass alumni team known as The Commonwealth. Despite the experience of playing with his college teammates, he said "it's no better feeling" to represent Memphis in the tournament.

"Everywhere I’ve played overseas, it’s just like a Memphis thing − I throw up the 'M' everywhere I go," Anderson said.

Team 901's other goals

Team 901 also looks at potential TBT success as an opportunity to unify the city.

"We're representing something bigger than us," Anderson said. "We're one. I believe with us doing that, it definitely will show that the city is a lot stronger than just violence."

With more experience, chemistry and preparation, Team 901 is confident they can go far in TBT.

"At the end of the day, not being cocky or nothing like that, we're a Memphis-made team," Delaware said. "We have that Memphis grit, that Memphis mentality. Coming from one of the toughest cities probably in the country, we have the mentality to go out there and compete against anybody."

Reach Commercial Appeal sports intern Alana Thompson at [email protected].