BOWLING GREEN, Ky. --Â A group of former WKU basketball stars need help from Hilltopper Nation in their quest for a championship and a major monetary prize -- with some of that cash headed back to the fans of the winning team.
The Kentucky Kings, a team largely made up of former Hilltopper standouts, is currently seeking votes for the preliminary rounds of voting for The Basketball Tournament 2017.
Vote for the Kentucky Kings in The Basketball Tournament
Ex-Hilltoppers Jeremy Evans, A.J. Slaughter, Steffphon Pettigrew, Tyrone Brazelton and Kahlil McDonald will all compete for the Kentucky Kings should they advance through the South Region.
Former WKU stars Courtney Lee -- now with the NBA's New York Knicks -- and Ty Rogers are also associated with the team as boosters.
Evans, Slaughter, Pettigrew, Brazelton, Lee and Rogers formed the core of the 2007-08 WKU team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
The Basketball Tournament is an annual event which will this year feature 64 teams and a winner-takes-all prize of $2 million.
Of that payday, $200,000 will be divided among the top 100 fans on the winning team based on a points system that accounts for voting for teams, recruiting additional voters and participating in the TBT Bracket Challenge. The top fan from the winning team will receive $20,000.
Nine teams will earn automatic berths in their region based on the number of votes for each team on TheTournament.com as of 11 a.m. CT Thursday, June 1.
Six more teams will be picked at-large from each region, and a final team from each region will have the chance to play its way into the field.
The South Region games will take place July 8-9 in Charlotte, N.C. The final four teams from each region advance to the Super 16, which takes place July 20-23 in New York and will air on ESPN and ESPN2.
The semifinals and finals will take place Aug. 1-3 in Baltimore and air on ESPN.
You can follow the Kentucky Kings on Instagram, including videos from team boosters like Lee, at the account @xkentuckykingsx.
To vote for the Kentucky Kings and become a fan for a chance at a piece of the grand prize, visit the following link:Â http://goto.ps/KentuckyKings.
