LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The stakes in The Basketball Tournament (TBT) are intentionally sexy — a $1 million winner-take-all prize awarded to the one team that survives the 64-team event that begins next month.
But for Chane Behanan the stakes are considerably greater than any dollar amount.
For Behanan, playing with a group of his former University of Louisville teammates on The Ville squad will be a chance to celebrate the goodbye he never had with U of L fans after he was dismissed from the team nearly a decade ago.
It will be a chance to rebuild his reputation in the basketball world and, if all goes well, earn one more crack at a professional career before Behanan turns 31 in September.
And it’s an opportunity to honor his fiercest defender, the most important person in his life — his grandmother, Maxine Warren, who was 75 when she passed away several months ago.
“I've talked to (Chane) a bunch of times,” said Peyton Siva, Behanan’s teammate at U of L and on The Ville.
“Just about, ‘Look, man, you're still young. You're still competing in your prime years. If you really focus on it, you can really make a great living over in Europe, playing overseas playing in China, Japan, wherever it may be.’
“They're always looking for guys with his skill set. You know, he's gonna surprise a lot of people because a lot of people haven't seen him in so long.
“He has that work ethic. When he's on the court, he’s a handful. He's strong. He has his base, has a really great base. Good touch around the rim. He has a really good shot.
“So I'm looking forward to him really getting in that peak shape and hopefully, this TBT can be a launching pad for him to take off and get some exposure out of this.”
For Behanan, the time is now. He has not played professional basketball in three years, since COVID shut down the league in Puerto Rico where Behanan competed in March 2020.
Behanan has split time between Louisville, where he has three daughters, and Cincinnati. That is the town where he grew up, protected by his supportive grandmother, who sometimes responded with strongly worded emails to media members who criticized his immature behavior — behavior that included U of L coach Rick Pitino kicking him off the team on Dec. 30, 2013, about nine months after Behanan was a critical contributor to the U of L team that won the NCAA championship in Atlanta. In that instance, Behanan has said, he was smoking marijuana while the Cards were in Miami for a game.
Then there was a report that somebody was trying to auction Behanan’s NCAA championship ring. He was mentioned prominently in “Breaking Cardinal Rules,” the book that led to the Cards landing on NCAA probation and being forced to vacate that 2013 title.
Even last February, when the school celebrated the 10-year anniversary of that team, Behanan participated in activities off campus but was not permitted to attend the ceremony in the KFC Yum! Center on Feb. 18.
Behanan blamed the problem on his failure to respond to an email about a situation that occurred on campus. He said that teammate Luke Hancock and retired U of L senior associate athletic director Kenny Klein helped him resolve the matter.
This is a guy who averaged 9.4 points and 6.9 rebounds over 91 games at U of L. A guy named to the all-tournament team at that 2013 Final Four. A guy who outscored Draymond Green when Louisville defeated Michigan State in the semifinals of the 2012 Phoenix Regional.
Properly focused and motivated, Behanan should have done more on this professional journey than he has done since leaving U of L.
“For Chane, it’s just about if he has structure, he’s perfect,” Siva said. “Sometimes he can kind of get off in the wrong direction … he’s such a great guy … he’s the most polite person. He’s going to speak highly about anybody.
“But like I said, sometimes he just holds things in and sometimes he just makes the wrong decision.”
On Tuesday, Behanan was in the Cards’ practice gym, working with Siva, Russ Smith and Chris Dowe as The Ville team intensifies its preparation for its first TBT game at 7 p.m. July 25 in at Freedom Hall.
“I’m excited to play here in Louisville just to show everybody what I’ve been working on and that I’m doing OK,” Behanan said.
“People ask me, ‘What have you added to your game?’ I think you’re going to see the jump shot. It was always there. Don’t get me wrong. I was just playing my role (of concentrating on rebounding at U of L). But definitely the jump shot.”
On March 24, when he first strongly considered joining this TBT hunt for $1 million, Behanan said he weighed 284 pounds. He said that was the most he has ever carried on his solid 6 foot, 6 inch frame.
As a Cardinal, Behanan was listed as high as 253 pounds. On Wednesday Behanan said he weighed 256 — and that he planned to lose another 10 pounds before he joins Wayne Blackshear, Chinanu Onuaku and Rakeem Buckles in the frontcourt for The Ville.
Behanan never had the chance to say goodbye to Louisville fans, and he wants them to see the best of Chane Behanan.
Behanan said he might consider returning to the NBA G-League franchise in Salt Lake City, which retains his rights, or attempt to resurrect his career in Europe or Asia.
You can still play, Chane?
Behanan laughed. For several seconds. As loudly as he laughed during any part of our 19-minute conversation.
“They say the old wine is the good tasting one,” Behanan said.
“Everybody always asks me that question. I always tell them that I don’t think it ever left.”
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