Jackson TN Underdawgs hungry to win The Basketball Tournament

This may look like some normal Saturday night pick up basketball game but these men are actually practicing for the chance of a lifetime.

They are the Jackson TN Underdawgs, a team comprised of mostly hub city high school basketball stars from the past decade.

“We’ve got thirteen guys on this roster, six of them played for me right here at liberty high school" says head coach Dexter Williams.

They are one of eight teams left in The Basketball Tournament, a national single elimination basketball tournament featuring former NBA and college players, where the winner splits two million dollars.

This Jackson team is different from the rest, only a hand full of these guys played ball beyond high school and almost all now work for a living.

“the effort you see, a lot of it is because a lot of us work day jobs and we realize what an opportunity we have in front of us financially" according to Antwan Long.

The Underdawgs started the tournament as the 56th ranked team and the lowest seed in their region but now sit three wins away from being champions.

As their team nickname suggests, they have fully embraced the underdog mentality playing in TBT.

“there's no pressure on us. All the pressure is on those so called one seeds that are supposed to be winning this thing.”

One thing is for sure, when the team takes the court for their next game, they know they have all of the hub city and west tennessee rooting them on.

“There is a lot of pride in our locker room. We don’t take it for granted, being able to have that name of jackson across our chest.”