Former Northwestern Center Joins Men of Mackey 2024 TBT Squad

Men of Mackey has added another player to the 2024 TBT (The Basketball Tournament) roster. Sunday morning, the team announced that former Northwestern and Southern Illinois center Barret Benson will be joining the team.

Benson becomes the 12th player to join the Men of Mackey roster for this year's TBT. He played at Northwestern from 2016-19 before spending his final season at Southern Illinois (2019-20).

After Men of Mackey made the announcement, Benson sent out a post saying, "I believe the phrase is Boiler Up?"

We are excited to welcome to the team, center @bigbenson40 from @NUMensBball & @SIU_Basketball!

➡️ 2x Academic All-Big Ten
➡️ '19-20: 9th in the MVC in blocks and 12th in rebounding
➡️ '23-24: averaged 13.9 ppg, 8.9 rpg in Poland
➡️ His dad played football for @BoilerFootball pic.twitter.com/cqcu6wBnbs
— Men of Mackey (@PurdueTbt) July 14, 2024

Benson was a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection during his time at Northwestern. He appeared 96 career games during his time in Evanston, including 14 starts. The 6-foot-10 center was also a member on the first Northwestern teams that ever made an NCAA Tournament appearance (2017).

After transferring from Northwestern, Benson had a strong senior season at Southern Illinois. He averaged a career-best 10.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and nearly a block per contest.

Men of Mackey roster

Sasha Stefanovic (Purdue)
Kelsey Barlow (Purdue)
David Jenkins Jr. (Purdue)
Jon Octeus (Purdue)
Eric Hunter Jr. (Purdue)
Malik Osborne (Florida State)
Ian Miller (Florida State)
Max Landis (Purdue Fort Wayne)
Bobby Planutis (Purdue Fort Wayne)
Tahjai Teague (Ball State)
Mbacke Diong (UNLV/UCF)

What is TBT?

TBT (The Basketball Tournament) is a summer basketball event that features several former college basketball standouts. It's a single-elimination event — similar to the NCAA Tournament — with a $1 million, winner-take-all prize at stake.

Men of Mackey will start the TBT in the Butler Regional (Indianapolis) and play at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Games are scheduled to be played between July 19-23 for the regional. Both Indiana and Butler will also have alumni teams participating in this year's TBT event.

Butler Regional schedule

No. 1 Assembly Ball (Indiana alumni) vs. No. 8 The Cru (Valparaiso alumni)

Date: Friday, July 19
Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: Big Ten Network

No. 4 Men of Mackey (Purdue alumni) vs. No. 5 Fort Wayne Champs

Date: Friday, July 19
Time: 3 p.m. ET
TV: TBT Live

No. 3 Team Arkansas (Arkansas alumni) vs. No. 6 Eberlein Drive

Date: Friday, July 19
Time: 1 p.m. ET
TV: TBT Live

No. 2 All Good Dawgs (Butler alumni) vs. No. 7 Fail Harder

Date: Friday, July 19
Time: 6 p.m. ET
TV: Fox Sports 2