Texas basketball ex James Banks playing with Stillwater Stars in TBT

A notable ex big man of the Texas basketball program, and a former Georgia Tech transfer James Banks III, is taking part in The Basketball Tournament.

There is finally something featuring a former player out of any Texas athletic program to watch in sports this summer in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Former Texas basketball big man James Banks III is the one that is competing with a number of familiar faces from around the Big 12 in The Basketball Tournament, with games starting on July 4 in Columbus, OH.

TBT is playing in a “bubble” style tournament, just like the NBA will try to do for their games planned to start later this month on July 30. This is really the first actual hoops game action domestically since college basketball and the NBA was placed on pause, or cancelled out entirely, due to the COVID-19 pandemic back in mid-March.

And in one of the initial games on this holiday weekend, the former Longhorn Banks III was in action with a group of Oklahoma State Cowboys alumni. Banks III is playing for the Stillwater Stars, along with those aforementioned Oklahoma State hoops alumni and a few former Kansas Jayhawks.

Recognizable faces on that Stars roster also includes former Oklahoma State sharpshooting guard Thomas Dziagwa, forward Le’Bryan Nash, athletic shooting guard Markel Brown, and combo guard Phil Forte. Former Kansas guard Naadir Tharpe is also one of the more notable names on the Stars roster for TBT.

Although a lot of the more notable names on the Stars roster weren’t able to play in the initial games since they reportedly didn’t take their COVID-19 tests correctly. But that should give the 6-foot-10 Banks III a bigger opportunity to make an impact for as long as the Stars last in TBT.

This year’s version of TBT will only feature a 24-team field, and each loss in these initial games means that your team is eliminated. The Stars are set to take on a group of mid-major alumni from around the Philadelphia area, with a team called Brotherly Love.

Banks III is a former four-star recruit that played two seasons at Texas before taking his talents to join the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets basketball program two years ago. He played in 46 games at Texas, while averaging 1.7 points per game in that span.