Ram fans rally to add Justin Tuoyo to TBT alumni team

In less than one day, Ram fans raised over $3,000 to cover the steep entry fee needed for Ram Nation's "<a href="http://www.thetournament.com/teams/ram-nation-vcu-alumni">The Basketball Tournament</a>" team to add former Ram, Justin Tuoyo, to the mostly-VCU alumni team's roster.

According to TBT rules, the cost to add a player increases the closer a team gets to a championship. Since Ram Nation was successful in winning two thrillers this past weekend in Charlotte, punching a ticket to the summer tournament's "Super 16" in Brooklyn, NY, that fee has increased to $3,000 for Ram Nation.

Down one center already (JMU graduate, Denzel Bowles), Ram fans rallied to support the former Ram in crowd-funding the cost for Tuoyo's addition to the team in next to no time.

Tuoyo, a VCU class of 2012 commit, played just one season with the Rams before opting to follow Will Wade to UT Chattanooga in pursuit of more playing time. There, the Atlanta native exploded as a Southern Conference big man, earning SoCon First Team honors and winning consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Tuoyo's 10.7% career blocks percentage gives team Ram Nation another huge defensive piece to go alongside former Ram Larry Sanders who blocked 9.1% of shots his final year at VCU and an insane 19.3% (tops in the nation) as a freshman. He finished with an impressive 59.6% career true shooting percentage and averaged double-digit scoring all three seasons at UTC.

A special thanks to the following folks who made this happen: Ed McLaughlin, Jack Lanzillotti, Jay Harvey, Matt Morton, Allison Leopold, Wayne Charles, Lia Taylor, Craig Smith, Christian Edwards, Bill Tatu, Keith (Spi-dA) Young, The Newfields, Bruce Skywalker, Tori Valentine, Roger Skeen, Deborah Kern, Dan Zodun, Charlie Kramer, Greg Graber, Catherine Hancock, Baja Bean Co., Telvis Fitzgerald, Chaz Fisher, Debbie Owens, Stephen Jones, Shawn Wright, Michael Haymaker, Anita Conner, Will Curtin, Patti Bragaw, Elizabeth Binnings, Virginia Eckert, Julie Hovermale, Danielle Remer, Margaret Wright, Troy Daniels, Patrick Young, Taylor Early, Ginny and Steve Coudriet, Pav Crowley, Fulton Drumheller, Les Owen, Ken Stevens, Mark Dalton and Cyndi and Tony Santowasso.

Also a special thanks to the comedians who donated under the following names, but donated just the same: Floyd Mayweather, Rodney the Ram, Marcus Garvey, Maggie Walker, Chris Mooney, Donald Trump and Lauren and Will Wade.

You can catch Tuoyo and the rest of team Ram Nation live in Brooklyn, NY at LIU Brooklyn on Friday, July 21 at 7PM or tune in to ESPN2.
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Natty
Licensed Virginia Realtor and part-time basketball writer. Co-founder of VCURamNation.com and A10Talk.com.
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Mat Shelton-Eide
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