The 2025 installment of The Basketball Tournament (TBT), a nationally recognized open-invitation basketball competition, is scheduled for this July. Best Virginia, the alumni team representing West Virginia University, is once again gearing up for the event and steadily assembling its roster.
Confirmed to take part are former WVU standouts Kedrian Johnson, Erik Stevenson, and Jermain Haley. Joining them will be another familiar face from the 2010s: Esa Ahmad. A 1,000-point scorer during his collegiate career, Ahmad played under legendary coach Bob Huggins from 2015 to 2019. He was averaging a personal best of 12 points per game in his senior year before being dismissed from the team due to a violation of athletic department policies.
Ahmad returned to the court with Best Virginia in the 2024 edition of TBT and has since pursued a professional career overseas, competing in both Europe and South America. After a Best Virginia exhibition game last summer, he spoke with MetroNews about his appreciation for Mountaineer Nation.
“It feels great playing in front of these fans,” said Ahmad. “They’re the best fans in the world. Playing in different countries and coming back here to play in front of them there’s nothing like it.”
Most recently, Ahmad played for KVIS Pardubice in Czechia, where he averaged 11.5 points and 5.4 rebounds. The year before, he posted a career-high 14.2 points per game while playing in Germany for BBC Bayreuth.
Be the first to comment