LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- George Suggs played at Bellarmine from 2012-16 and, for the last three years, he's been the head coach at McKendree University in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. 

He felt the opportunity to add some summer coaching was too good to pass up. He's in charge of Bellarmine's TBT entrant, "UKnighted," the team that will take on "The Ville" this Saturday at Freedom Hall.

"Like every college coach, you get into December and you think 'Man, why don't I coach two teams in a year,'" Suggs said with a laugh Tuesday at practice. "I got the invite to be a part of this and I told Al (Davis), I told everybody whatever capacity I could be helpful, I'm in. You don't pass up opportunities like this to be around really good people and be around the game."

The team includes several non-Bellarmine players, but a number of them did play for the Knights, like Dylan Penn, the versatile guard who starred from 2018-22, helping the Knights to an ASUN tournament title. He played a fifth year at Vermont and then played as a pro last season for the first time in Denmark. He will return for a second year overseas in the Netherlands.

"The coolest thing about this is the different eras of Bellarmine," Penn said. "When I got here, I heard the stories about Brayden (Hobbs) or I heard stories about George Suggs, and now he's the coach and I'm getting to play next to him. And you hear all these stories about these guys. So getting to be on the court and play with them, rather than watching them, it's really a unique and cool experience for me.

"I just think it's a really cool family atmosphere that not a lot of places have."

Hobbs is a Bellarmine Hall of Famer who was one of the leaders of the 2011 National Championship team. He's been retired for a little more than a year after playing eleven and a half seasons overseas, including eight years in the highest leagues in Germany.       

He's living and working back in this area with his wife and three kids but still playing two or three days a week and excited to put on the Bellarmine colors again. 

"I just thought it was right try to put the shoes on one last time," Hobbs said. "It's just been great, the whole week. They schedule, everything, dinner, practice, just to have the guys around. Feel like part of something again."

"It's a really unique event, and that's the thing I think is so cool about this," Suggs said. "For all the guys on our team they've just chosen to play this. It's not contract-related or about family. They just want to be here and play in this unique kind of event. 

"I don't think there's a lot of basketball experiences that are quite like that where everybody just says, yeah, I want to be on that team. So I think it will be pretty cool." 

They all agree that opening against the Louisville entrant, The Ville, will be great for the fans and the city and all of those involved. A number of them played with and against each other for years in the summer, in college and some even in European leagues. 

"We've got relationships with those guys," Suggs said. "We'll love competing against them and certainly give them our best shot to beat them. But it absolutely has generated a lot of buzz. I'm excited to see how many fans turn out for the game. I think it will be great for the city of Louisville and hopefully people show up and support both programs."

It's a 1 p.m. start Saturday at Freedom Hall. If you can't make it out, you can watch it live on WDRB. 

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