Carmen’s Crew captures the $1 million prize in The Basketball Tournament

Jared Sullinger netted more than $10 million during his NBA career, but he made the most expensive shot of his life on Sunday afternoon at Drexel’s Daskalakis Athletic Center.

Sullinger, a first-round draft pick of the Boston Celtics in 2012, sank the decisive field goal for Carmen’s Crew in the championship of The Basketball Tournament. His contested fadeaway jumper earned him a $62,500 cut of TBT’s $1 million grand prize, which was split by his team of Ohio State alumni.

“I didn’t see [the shot],” said Sullinger, who was dogpiled by his teammates in the aftermath. “I was on the ground, and next thing you know, all I saw was red shirts saying, ‘Yeah, you did it!’ … It was great.”

For the second year running, the 64-team, March Madness-style tournament hosted its title game in West Philly, where Sullinger and Carmen’s Crew took down Houston’s alumni team, Forever Coogs, 69-65. With the victory, Carmen’s Crew joined Overseas Elite as the only two teams to win TBT more than once (they also won in 2019).

This year, they emerged from the Dayton Regional and defeated La Familia in Friday night’s semifinal at the DAC. Forever Coogs won the Houston Regional before beating Eberlein Drive to book their place in the championship.

The game featured two of the tournament’s toughest defenses, and it was unsurprisingly a dogfight. Neither team led by more than five points in the first half, as Carmen’s Crew was plagued by eight turnovers and Forever Coogs shot just 2-for-12 from long range. Sullinger’s 10-point second quarter sent Carmen’s Crew into the break with a 36-34 lead.

TBT concludes its games using the Elam Ending, a rule format in which the game clock is shut off after the first dead ball with under four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. From that point, the two teams play to a target score, which is determined by adding eight points to the leading team’s total.

On Sunday, when Forever Coogs guard Wes Van Beck turned the ball over with 3 minutes, 56 seconds remaining and Carmen’s Crew leading by 60-56, the winning number was set at 68. Carmen’s Crew got to within one point of $1 million after a three-point play by Andre Wesson Jr. put them up 67-60, but a 5-0 spurt by Forever Coogs brought both squads to within one possession of the target score.

That’s when Sullinger got the ball in the post, weaved his way through a double team, and knocked down the 63rd and final game-winning bucket of the tournament.

“I was just trying to make a shot,” he said postgame. “When you’re playing for a million dollars, you can’t quit.”

Sullinger scored a game-high 18 points and was named tournament MVP. He was joined on the all-tournament team by Shipley graduate Sam Sessoms, who played for Penn State’s alumni team, Happy Valley Hoopers.

Leon Rodgers, coach of Carmen’s Crew, was a player on the team when it won TBT in 2019. The Columbus native, who lettered four times at Northern Illinois and played 15 seasons overseas, used his previous success in the tournament to build a champion from the sidelines.

“I asked these guys to be pros,” Rodgers said. “We gave ourselves 15 days to be pros. They really did a hell of a job by accepting that.”

Added Sullinger: “[Rodgers] has done a great job. … He’s the reason why we won. You got to give him most of the credit. We would not be prepared, we would not be winning this tournament if it wasn’t for his hard work.”

Sullinger called Rodgers his “brother,” but he also had several of his actual family members in attendance at the DAC. He has spent the last seven years playing overseas, which gives special meaning to moments like Sunday afternoon.

“I’ve never had that many people at a game since 2017 when I played for the Toronto Raptors,” Sullinger said. “ … It’s something today that I’m never going to take for granted. It’s a memory that’s gonna stay with me forever.”

Asked if Carmen’s Crew plans to defend their title in 2025, Sullinger and Rodgers had the same answer: “We’ll be back.”