Ball Night! Basketball Returns to Smith Center

Pops is back!

Color me excited: Basketball returns to the Charles E. Smith Center tonight with the season tip-off for the Basketball Alumni Legends League (The-BALL.) The D.C. Dobermans (love the name!) led by former Hoya stars Austin Freeman & Henry Sims, and GW standouts Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Chris Monroe and Tony Taylor host an all-star team from Maryland featuring ex-Terps John Gilchrist, James Gist and D.J. Strawberry at 7:00 PM. Tickets are still available, and can be had for as little as $8 (8 bucks!) Buy online (click here) or at the Smith Center box office tonight.

Johnny Newman returns to coach Team DC, after sweeping Team Philly in The-BALL's inaugural two-game series last August. Team Maryland has turned to a legendary duo to call its shots: Former Towson University head coach Terry Truax joins Lefty Driesell (the only college coach to ever win 100+ games for four different schools) to guide a Terp-heavy (6 former UMD players) squad.

If you plan on attending in person (or watching on ESPN3) be aware of the rules... as in four 10-minute quarters, an NBA 24-second shot clock and 8-second half-court time line, as well as the ever-popular 4-point shot (25' from the basket.) Click here for a full rundown (no foul-outs either!) Too complex? Let's break it down to what it's all about... Excitement! Still not sold? Click on the videos below to see highlights from last year's contests. See you tonight!

Tentative line-ups (rosters subject to change)

D.C. Dobermans: Austin Freeman, Henry Sims and Chris Wright (Georgetown) Vlad Moldoveanu (American U) Jai Lewis (George Mason) Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Chris Monroe, J.R. Pinnock and Tony Taylor (GW)

Team Maryland: Adrian Bowie, John Gilchrist, James Gist, Landon Milbourne, Sean Mosley and James Padgett (Maryland) Erik Etherly and Bobby Olson (Loyola) Chris De La Rosa (UMBC)