BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Ex-Pats will be back for the 2022 TBT (The Basketball Tournament).
The first team to highlight Patriot League men’s basketball talent in the long-running summer event will make its second appearance in the 64-team, single-elimination men’s basketball tournament and learn which of the eight regions they will be sent to when the bracket is announced in late June.
The masterminds behind the Ex-Pats will again be Lehigh men’s basketball alums Jack Lieb, who just finished his tenure as a graduate assistant coach on the Vanderbilt men’s basketball staff, and David Roelke, who works at a digital marketing agency. Lieb, who made his head coaching debut during the 2021 TBT, will again lead the squad from the bench. He will also continue to rely on the expertise of his friend and college roommate Roelke, operating as assistant GM and assistant coach on staff.
Last year, the duo proved the theory they had before entering; that a team comprised of former Patriot Leaguers can compete in the nationally-televised tournament littered with recognizable names from high-profile collegiate and pro backgrounds. During their first go-around, the Ex-Pats dropped a hard-fought 60-53 decision to the AfterShocks, a team of Wichita State alums that advanced to the quarterfinal round.
“The loss last summer in the TBT was imperative to the planning process for this year’s upcoming tournament,” Lieb said. “Recruiting the last few months to put together the roster has not been easy. Improving on the areas we struggled at was the focus: rebounding, decision making, pace of play, and 3-point shooting. All new additions to this year’s team give us a boost in those areas. We feel that the roster we have has more than enough talent to win TBT. I am confident that the Ex-Pats have a chance to compete for the TBT trophy. We’re planning to do things a bit differently this year, we will have a five-day training camp leading up to our first game. The camp will be crucial as we come together with our sights on Dayton (the Aug. 2 championship game site).”
Lieb and Roelke have continued to assemble a roster of talented Patriot League stars. They recently added former Bucknell and Ohio State point guard Jimmy Sotos and three-time All-League selection and 2020 Patriot League Defensive Player Will Rayman of Colgate to the roster. Rayman will join a roster that already included a pair of former teammates with 2021 Patriot League Player of the Year Jordan Burns, who is coming off of a championship season with the London Lightning of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC), and guard Jordan Robertson, a 2018 Colgate graduate.
The Ex-Pats will also feature a strong Lehigh contingent with the addition of former Mountain Hawk and Boston College forward James Karnik to a roster that already included a pair of former All-League players in Zahir Carrington and Jordan Cohen, who suited up for the Ex-Pats in 2021.
The Ex-Pats roster will also include former collegiate stars like Elijah Burns (Notre Dame/Siena), CJ Keyser (NC Central/Wichita State/Old Dominion), Glynn Watson (Nebraska), and Josh Nzeakor (Lamar), who also played for the Ex-Pats in 2021.
“This year’s team is entirely different than last year’s,” Lieb said. “We retain outstanding guards in Jordan Cohen and Jordan Burns and two dynamic forward’s in Elijah Burns and Josh Nzeakor. With the addition of athleticism, shooting and speed to fill out the rest of the roster, we have a shot at a deep run in the tournament."
The TBT debuted in 2014. Teams, sometimes based on the schools or geographic regions that players hail from, are all vying for the $1 million winner-take-all prize in games that air on the ESPN Family of Networks. Regional play in the 2022 TBT begins on July 16 and culminates with its championship game on Aug. 2 at The University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
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The Patriot League is in its fourth decade of academic and athletic achievement, continually demonstrating that student-athlete can excel at both academics and athletics without sacrificing high standards. The Patriot League’s athletic success is achieved while its member institutions remain committed to its founding principle of admitting and graduating student-athletes that are academically representative of their class. Participation in athletics at Patriot League institutions is viewed as an important component of a well-rounded education.