The names are local, but the vision is national.
Some former collegiate basketball players with Chattanooga-area ties are trying to qualify for a tournament televised on ESPN and worth $2 million for the winning team.
"The Basketball Tournament" is a unique competition that gives fans the power to "build and join a major sporting event. Fans vote for the teams that play, and fans win when their team wins," according to the website.
There are 64 teams that make the main draw and 16 more playing in the jamboree play-in event. Whereas the field of 64 is determined by voting, the other 16 pay to play, with the games being shown on ESPN3.
Ninety percent of the prize money for the winning team goes to the players. The other 10 percent will be divided among the top 100 fans of that team.
"Every team that makes it into TBT 2017 will be six wins away from $2 million," John Mugar, CEO and founder of The Basketball Tournament, said in a news release. "We expect thousands of players and hundreds of teams to apply, and with the winning team's fans sharing 10 percent of the prize, we expect fans to be every bit as rabid. April 1 kicked off four months of insanity, leading up to our $2 milion, winner-takes-all game Aug. 3, live on ESPN."
A Chattanooga-area team, led by former Tyner standout Trey Suttles, has been put together to go for the prize. Other players on the Chattanooga Trenches roster with local ties include Raymon Austin, Christian Collins, Dontay Hampton, Dominique Harper, Philip Jurick, Sidney Pointer, Randall Smith, Fred Sturdivant and Ricky Taylor.
"Every player on this team had to grind to get what they have," Suttles said. "It is a grind every day in the city of Chattanooga, and only the hard-nosed players survive."
The top nine teams in each region will be selected based on their popularity on TheTournament.com on June 1 at noon EDT (Chattanooga is currently ranked eighth in the South). Six other teams will be selected as at-large participans, and one other will get in through the jamboree.
If the Chattanoogans are selected, they will play in the South regional tournament July 8-9 in Charlotte, N.C. The top four seeds in each region qualify for the Super 16 in New York City, with July 20-23 games shown on ESPN and ESPN2.
Semifinals will be held Aug. 1 in Baltimore on ESPN, with the championship game on Aug. 3.
Fans are encouraged to visit www.thetournament.com and register as a fan. According to Suttles, every vote counts in the team's pursuit of a spot.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.