OBL Sets Seeds, Brackets for Hoops Championships this Weekend; Queens Native Isaiah Brown Earns No. 1 Ranking

Today the Ones Basketball League (OBL) — the first-ever elite competition that celebrates the most skilled one-on-one players on the planet and that Basketball Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady created–revealed the brackets for the 22-player, winner-take-all, $250,000 OBL Finals, set for Friday (3 p.m. PT) and Saturday (8 p.m. PT) at The Dollar Loan Center, in Henderson, Nevada.

Additionally, Isaiah Brown (Queens, N.Y.), John Jordan (Houston), Glen Rice Jr. (Marietta, Ga.) and Mario Smith (Kalamazoo, Mich.) have earned the top four seeds in the OBL Championships.

The top three players from each of six OBL Regional Championships held in Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, New York, the DMV, and Los Angeles, plus four Commissioner’s Choice “wild cards” were invited to compete in the OBL Finals. The single-elimination format will feature two wild card matchups, four first round games and eight second-round contests on Friday, followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals and OBL Championship match on Saturday.

The seeds and matchups are as follows:

Friday

Game 1 – (WC) Ridge Shipley, Carrolton, Texas vs (WC) Geno Lawrence, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Game 2 – (WC) Terry Hosley, Baltimore vs (WC) Chris Staples, Saginaw, Mich.

Game 3 –(18) Myron Taylor, Killeen, Texas vs (15) Dont’e Karon Wright, Jackson, S.C.

Game 4 – (17) Randy Gill (Los Angeles) vs. (16) Grant Anderson, Chicago

Game 5 – Game 1 winner vs. (13) Tiras Wade, Tampa

Game 6 – Game 2 winner vs. (14) Darien Davis, Coram, N.Y.

Game 7 – (9) Andrew Washington (Washington, D.C.) vs (8) Yoshi Craig, Chicago

Game 8 – (10) Zach Radz, Troy, N.Y. vs (7) Antonio Hester, Miami

Game 9 – (12) Matt Kiatipis, Newmarket, Ontario vs (5) George Beamon, Roslyn, N.Y.

Game 10 – (11) Marcus Hall, Houston vs (6) Kevin Kuteyi, Lanham, Md.

Game 11 – Game 5 winner vs (4) Mario Smith, Kalamazoo, Mich.

Game 12 – Game 6 winner vs (3) Glen Rice Jr., Marietta, Ga.

Game 13 – Game 3 winner vs (2) John Jordan, Houston

Game 14 – Game 4 winner vs (1) Isaiah Brown, Queens, N.Y.

Saturday

Quarterfinals, Semifinals and OBL Championship

in Henderson, Nevada.

A limited number of tickets are available to the public for the event here. Friday’s event will start at 3 p.m. PT, with the Championship Finals starting on Saturday at 8 p.m.

Winners of each of the six OBL Regional Championships won a $10,000 first prize. In addition to the $250,000 OBL Finals Championship prize, this weekend’s champion will claim the title of 2022 OBL “Ruler of the Court.” Athletes aged 18 and up who are currently not under an NBA contract and have not been on an active NBA roster for more than 164 games (equivalent to two NBA regular seasons) were eligible to compete. The aim is to welcome both best-in-class talent and players who may still be under the radar of most basketball fans.

Fans can watch the OBL Finals action live on a variety of social media channels, with coverage beginning at 5:30 p.m. PT on Friday and 7:45 p.m. PT on Saturday:

• OBL: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter
• Tracy McGrady: Facebook, Twitter
• Slam: YouTube
• Playmaker: Facebook, Twitter
• Basketball Above All: Facebook

— Jerry Del Priore

Photo of Isaiah Brown, OBL.