JMU’s alumni team, the Founding Fathers, competed Friday in The Basketball Tournament (TBT). The Founding Fathers came well short of TBT’s $1 million prize awarded to the winner, bowing out in the opening round at the AUBC with an 82-64 loss to NXT Era Elite.

Still, Friday’s game had plenty of highs for the alumni team. Here are a few takeaways from watching the event in person.

It’s not a big deal, but it’s fun

TBT, especially for the alumni teams without a legitimate chance to win the event, is essentially a way for former teammates to get together and re-live their college days. Friday night in the AUBC was entertaining, even as the basketball lacked rhythm.

It’s rad to watch Andre Nation dunk in JMU’s arena again. It’s intriguing to see Mark Freeman trying to find his form after his lone season as a Duke, and it was even better to see AJ Davis back in town after a horrific car accident led to his legs being amputated. Friday’s game, which turned ugly for the Founding Fathers in the second half, was a fun way to spend a rainy July night.

The idea that playing TBT in Harrisonburg meaningful impacts the recognition of JMU’s program or the trajectory of the program is silly, though. I’ve been guilty of thinking like that in the past. TBT is an enjoyable event during a slow period in the sports calendar, but it’s not meaningful on a large scale. Most casual basketball fans don’t care, and JMU’s arena was closer to being empty than it was to being sold out.

JMU winning men’s and women’s basketball games impacts the national relevance of the Dukes. An alumni team playing one-off games in an offseason tournament doesn’t. And that’s fine! But it’s important to keep the event in perspective.

It’s fun that there’s a JMU alumni team playing, but sometimes as fans it’s easy to try to make everything into something larger. What does this mean for the brand? What does a football result or season mean for future realignment possibilities? What do TV ratings of this game mean?

It’s OK to be where your feet are and enjoy the competition, even if it doesn’t make JMU a more relevant athletic department on a national scale. Friday was a reminder that at the center of enjoying college sports and sports in general is the sense of joy and community from simply watching athletes compete. Not everything has to be more than that.

Time to change it up?

There’s probably a world where the Founding Fathers stop trying to compete in TBT. The team has yet to advance out of the first round, and it takes A LOT of work to compile a roster and the funding needed to be in the event. It’s not as easy as just showing up at the AUBC in mid July.

Given the team’s lack of success, could it be time for a new approach to the tournament? What if instead of a JMU alumni team, the Founding Fathers merged with other entities to create a Virginia-focused alumni team. What might a team look like with VCU, JMU, UVA, and Virginia Tech alumni? That could still cater to each fan base, while also boosting the chances of winning.

Maybe that creates more logistical challenges in setting up a roster, but the current approach to roster building hasn’t led to a win yet. It seems plausible that if the Founding Fathers try to run it back, they might do so with a different approach.

Kudos to those in charge

Despite the lack of on-court success, it’s wonderful that a group of former Dukes cared enough to want to be in this tournament multiple times. Watching players like Andre Nation and Stuckey Mosley compete again brought plenty of fans, including myself, a bunch of summertime enjoyment.

Kudos to the players for taking the time to compete in the event, and a major shoutout to GMs Kevin Albright and Joe Kuykendall for putting a roster together and handling the logistics to give JMU basketball fans something to care about in July. Most of the time, JMU sports fandom can feel football focused. It’s always a pleasant surprise when there’s extreme passion shared for the Dukes’ hoops program.

Regardless of the Founding Fathers’ future in the event, I’m grateful Friday happened.

Photo courtesy of JMU Athletics Communications