Photo: Jitaurious “Ty” Gordon (seen here this season with Tartu Ülikool of the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League) will suit up for the Beale Street Boys in The Basketball Tournament, scheduled later this month. (Courtesy photo)
Credit: Northwest CC Sports Information
The Basketball Tournament (TBT) begins later this month and for the first time, Northwest will be represented in the nationally-televised event.
Former Ranger Jitaurious “Ty” Gordon, who prepped at Horn Lake High School, will suit up for the Beale Street Boys team, featuring a slew of former University of Memphis basketball alums. Former Tiger point guard Willie Kemp created the team and will serve as the head coach.
A native of Tunica, Gordon spent two seasons at Northwest, averaging 20.6 points per game, while shooting 47.5 percent from the floor. A two-time all-conference selection from 2017-19, he ranks eighth in the Rangers’ record books for three-point percentage (.349), ninth in three-pointers made/attempted (106-304) and is tied for 10th in scoring average (17.4 points per game).
Following Northwest, Gordon initially signed with Troy University and spent the 2019-20 season with the Trojans. He then transferred to Nicholls State to finish out his collegiate career, earning Southland Conference Player of the Year accolades in March 2022, becoming only the second Colonel to earn conference POTY accolades (Reggie Jackson; 1995).
Gordon averaged 21.6 points per game during his senior season at Nicholls State and was named conference Player of the Week seven times during the 2021-22 season, setting a new league record. He also scored 30 points or more in four games with the Colonels, including a career-best 36 points against New Orleans. Gordon also set a program single-season record with 99 made three-pointers, while ranking seventh in the nation with an average of 3.67 three-pointers per game and tying for sixth and seventh in the conference for assists per game (3.2) and steals per game (1.5).
Following his time in Thibodaux, Gordon worked out for numerous NBA teams, but was ultimately snubbed in the 2022 NBA Draft. He was later selected by the Memphis Hustle in the first round of the NBA G-League Draft last October, but did not make the final roster.
Most recently, Gordon was signed by BC Gargždai-SC of the Lithuanian Basketball League in December 2022, before later joining Tartu Ülikool of the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League.
Gordon joins a Beale Street Boys’ roster that includes notable former Memphis Tigers, including Will Coleman, Chris Crawford, Alex Lomax, Shawn Taggart and Adonis Thomas. The squad is part of a 64-team field all vying for a $1,000,000, winner-take-all prize.
The Beale Street Boys will open competition in the Wichita region against the Broad Street Birds, a team making up former Temple University alums. The game will be held on Thursday, July 20 at 3 P.M. Central on ESPN+. All games will be on ESPN+, with select contests airing on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.
