Ex-Pitt players bring back Zoo Crew to seek $1M tournament prize
With a $1 million prize at stake, it’s no wonder The Zoo Crew is making a comeback.
The Zoo Crew, a group of former Pitt basketball players, will compete this year in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), a 64-team, single-elimination event. The first game will be July 25 in the West Virginia Regional in Wheeling, W.Va.
The team added some familiar names to its roster — Nelly Cummings, Greg Elliott, Nike Sibande and Mouhamadou Gueye. Cummings, Elliott and Sibande helped Pitt win two games in this year’s NCAA Tournament, and Gueye played for Pitt during the 2021-22 season.
Gilbert Brown, who scored 1,046 points for Pitt from 2006-11, will be the Zoo Crew’s general manager and head coach. He currently serves as Pitt’s Director of Player & Alumni Development. TBT veterans Gary McGhee, Jamel Artis and Ryan Luther and two-time All-ACC selection Michael Young are also part of the team.
To qualify, a TBT team must have at least seven members of the roster who competed at that institution.
The Zoo Crew will return to its roots to prepare for the tournament with a five-day training camp July 17-22, at the Petersen Events Center.
Zoo Crew, formerly named the Untouchables, competed in TBT in 2016, 2017 and 2018, winning two games and advancing to the quarterfinals in its first tournament in ‘16.
Marking its 10th anniversary, TBT will be contested in several U.S. cities, including Cincinnati, Dayton, Louisville, Lubbock, Texas, Syracuse, N.Y., Wheeling, W.Va. and Wichita, Kan.
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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