POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – "Don't tell anyone, but I'm trying to start a TBT team."
Sorry guys, your secret is out.
A seed that was planted through Snapchat has blossomed into reality. Largely due to the efforts of three people connected to the Marist men's basketball program, Mental Toughness is the #13 seed in the Wichita Region of The Basketball Tournament (TBT).
Sean McGee is a 2020 Marist graduate who was a three-year men's basketball team manager, and is currently an assistant coach at Manhattanville College. Zach Kelley, who will be a senior in the 2021-22 school year, has been a manager at Marist since his freshman year.
Kevin Driscoll is heading into fourth season as an assistant coach under head coach
John Dunne. McGee serves as co-general manager and assistant coach for head coach Josh King. Driscoll is the general manager, and Kelley is director of basketball operations.
TBT includes a 64-team field and a single elimination format, with a $1 million winner-take-all prize and ESPN is its broadcast partner.
What makes the Mental Toughness team unique is its cause. Previous and current teams such as Sideline Cancer and Team Challenge ALS have taken part in worthy endeavors, but Mental Toughness is the first in the tournament's history to be devoted to mental health awareness.
"This was a year where mental health was at the forefront," Driscoll said. "A lot of people went through their daily challenges. … You would be on pins and needles a lot this year, waiting for those test results. The anxiety was probably at an all-time high, and sometimes uncontrollable."
When talking to McGee, it's easy to be drawn in by his enthusiasm for the game. He has closely followed TBT since its inception in 2014. This past winter, he pondered some ways to put together a team for this year's edition.
On March 3, he contacted Kelley through Snapchat, and said "Don't tell anyone, but I'm trying to start a TBT team." Some brainstorming sessions led to McGee raising the possibility of playing for mental health awareness.
Kelley then contacted Bailey Carlin, the founder of Bad Brain Digital Consulting, seeking information on mental health organizations. Carlin mentioned the JCK Foundation, which is based in Dobbs Ferry in Westchester County. The foundation aims to empower students and their communities, and its Legends Program has served over 30 schools and 6,000 students since its inception in 2018.
A Zoom call with JCK Executive Director John Tessitore took place on April 2. Tessitore's magnetic personality and positive energy endeared himself to both McGee and Kelley, and a partnership was formed.
"We just clicked; we all enjoyed being with each other," Kelley said. "We thought it's a great foundation, we were game, and we were ready to go all in with the JCK Foundation and John."
The idea had been hatched, a great cause had been found, and a partnership was built. The progress was real, but the team needed players to compete.
Enter Driscoll and his recruiting acumen. With over a decade of collegiate coaching experience in addition to several years with the Hoop Group, Driscoll has had a knack for building relationships, which was instrumental to the next part of the plan.
"I don't have the professional connections that Driscoll does," McGee said. "I could do all the administrative stuff, but I can't do that without any players."
The first player to join Mental Toughness had a perfect blend of basketball ability, a relationship with Driscoll, and a connection to the cause.
Jehyve Floyd was recruited by Driscoll to Holy Cross, where he was twice named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year. His professional basketball journey has taken him to Germany, Greece, and Israel. This March, his book – Godfidence – was published, which detailed his journey and allowed him to raise awareness for mental health.
Next to join was Marques Townes, a friend of Floyd's who helped lead Loyola Chicago to the 2018 Final Four. Townes was followed by Jonah Radebaugh, a three-time Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year at Northern Colorado.
With a solid core established, more players believed in the cause and the roster continued to grow. However, even though the puzzle pieces were coming together, it was not a certainty that Mental Toughness would be selected for this year's field.
The 64 finalists came from a pool of 110 applicants. Driscoll estimated that half of the teams in the field were essentially automatic qualifiers based on previous TBT success and roster strength.
"The whole time that we're doing this, we don't even know that we're in," Driscoll said.
Undeterred, the team plugged forward. The submission deadline for rosters was June 15. Six days later, the dream became reality. Mental Toughness was in and headed to Wichita.
"Getting a 13-seed for a first-year team is pretty good," Driscoll said.
From the outset, McGee valued reliability with tournament organizers. It was essential for him and Kelley to meet deadlines, build strong relationships, and show they could run an operation worthy of being selected.
"They've really done a majority of the work," Driscoll said. "I'm helping them, but those guys get all the credit. The experience they're getting doing this is major resume building experience. You see these games on television, but you don't realize what goes on behind the scenes. Those guys are the superstars."
No detail is too small for the conscientious and detail-oriented Kelley. He has comprised a list of 50 restaurants near the team's hotel in Wichita. He needed to research COVID-19 protocols in Qatar. The daily – hourly is probably more accurate – dialogue between Kelley and McGee has produced an itinerary that includes practices and scrimmages at Friends University, an NAIA school in Wichita, as well as personnel sessions and team meals.
The work has seemingly been non-stop for several months. The team arrives in Wichita on Tuesday, and will have four days to bond and create chemistry before taking the floor. The reward of seeing what takes place on the floor is what makes the grind worth it.
"I want to get to Wichita and coach basketball, that's what I want to do," McGee said.
The success of Mental Toughness will be determined by more than just the numbers on the scoreboard.
"If we win the whole thing, that's great," McGee said. "But if we play one game and that gives one person hope, then it's mission accomplished and that's in a win in itself."
Mental Toughness has been approved to provide every team – players and coaches – a packet with information on mental health resources. The team is also seeking to raise $11,000 for the JCK Foundation. Through a GoFundMe page and sponsorships, over $6,000 has already been raised.
Kelley has taken using the hashtag #StrongerTogether in his posts on the Mental Toughness account (@ToughnessTBT). It is a message he believes in that will have the opportunity to spread this week.
"I think (mental health) is super important in basketball," Kelley said. "We live in this culture where men and athletes stay silent. We want to use the platform of ESPN to say it's OK not to be OK. We are stronger together."
In the first round, Mental Toughness is matched up with the fourth-seeded L.A. Cheaters. The Cheaters will be representing the Drew League.
The Cheaters are comprised of several notable names. After starring at Arizona, Derrick Williams was the #2 overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, and played in the league for seven years. Mychel Thompson has NBA experience, and both his brother (Klay) and father (Mychal) are multi-time NBA champions. Casper Ware Sr. is the team's general manager and head coach, and his sons Casper and Ervin will both suit up for the Cheaters.
The game is scheduled for Saturday, July 17 at 3 p.m. Eastern, and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
Jeff Coby – Forward (Columbia)
Jehyve Floyd – Center (Holy Cross)
Sean Hoehn – Guard (Sacred Heart)
Kory Holden – Guard (South Alabama, South Carolina, Delaware)
D'Angelo Hunter – Forward (West Virginia, Navarro, Nicholls State)
Quincy McKnight – Guard (Sacred Heart, Seton Hall)
Jonah Radebaugh – Guard (Northern Colorado)
Brandon Randolph – Guard (Arizona)
Marques Townes – Guard (Fairleigh Dickinson, Loyola Chicago)
Kevin Driscoll – General Manager
Josh King – Head Coach
Sean McGee – Co-General Manager/Assistant Coach
John Tessitore – Assistant Coach
Sean Flynn – Assistant Coach
Zach Kelley – Director of Basketball Operations
