Kentucky commit Somto Cyril will play in The Basketball Tournament this week

Kentucky might be done with summer basketball, but you can still watch a future Wildcat ahead of the 2023-24 season.

Class of 2024 center Somto Cyril, who committed to Kentucky in late June, is set to participate in the 10th edition of The Basketball Tournament later this week as part of Team Overtime. Cyril and OTE will begin its TBT run on Wednesday, July 26 at 6:00 p.m. EST in Dayton, OH against Carmen’s Crew, a team made up primarily of former Ohio State players. It will be streamed live on ESPN+ at the University of Dayton Arena.

For those unfamiliar with TBT, it’s a winner-takes-all tournament featuring 64 teams with a grand prize of $1 million. The kicker is the use of the Elam Ending, which ensures all contests end on a game-winning shot. Cyril is being labeled as “the first amateur to ever participate in TBT”, meaning he won’t take home any of the prize money if OTE ultimately wins the event.

Team Overtime's FULL TBT ROSTER🏀 pic.twitter.com/LHv3G1L5jo

— TBT (@thetournament) July 24, 2023

This will be Team Overtime’s second appearance at TBT after they were bounced in the first round last summer. That roster included a pair of future top-five NBA Draft picks in Amen (No. 4; Houston Rockets) and Ausar Thompson (No. 5; Detroit Pistons). Along with Cyril, this year’s squad includes a mix of current OTE players and former college stars.

As for Team Overtime’s first opponent, Carmen’s Crew, there are some familiar faces spread across the roster. In particular, former Buckeye center Jared Sullinger is the team’s head coach and general manager. On the floor, we’ll see shooting guard William Buford who, like Sullinger, was a member of the Ohio State team that lost to Kentucky in the 2011 Sweet 16 (Buford shot 2-16 in that performance).

Carmen’s Crew is a regular at TBT, having won the entire event in 2019 where Buford was named the MVP. The team has a combined TBT record of 16-4 after taking a one-year hiatus in 2022.

Cyril is Kentucky’s lone class of 2024 commit. He’s considered a four-star prospect and the No. 38 overall rising senior in the country according to the On3 Industry Ranking. Nicknamed “Baby Shaq”, the 6-foot-10, 240-pound native of Nigeria is coming off a 2022-23 season at OTE that saw him average 8.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks per game on 66.2 percent shooting from the floor. Cyril suited up on the Cold Hearts alongside current Kentucky freshman guard Robert Dillingham.

If Team Overtime were to beat Carmen’s Crew, they would take the floor again on Friday, July 28 at 8:00 p.m. EST to play the winner of Red Scare and India Rising.