The Basketball Tournament got underway from Columbus, Ohio on Saturday in what was the first televised basketball event since March. Among those in action were former Tar Heel shooting guard Christian Keeling. Keeling was a starter for a Primetime Players team that got the call to be a part of the tournament only after another team was removed after a positive COVID-19 test.
Keeling was phenomenal to say the least for the Primetime Players who were at a disadvantage heading in against a very solid Team CP3 team. Instead, Keeling got into a groove, leading the Primetime Players in scoring with 25 points. After a quiet first quarter to begin the game, Keeling found his shooting stroke in the second quarter, getting his mid-range game going before taking over the game from the outside. After another strong quarter in the third, the Primetime Players seemed to go away from him at the end of the game for some reason despite all of his success.
Not only was Keeling effective on the offensive end, he also looked strong defensively. Keeling made a couple of nice hustle plays on the defensive and looked comfortable on defense, something he really didn’t seem to be at times for the Tar Heels this season.
Unfortunately, the Primetime Players came up short on a game-winning dunk on a turnover, but this was great exposure for Keeling. It’s uncertain how much this could pay off for him, but one has to believe that this caught some people's attention with many eyes that normally wouldn’t be on the tournament during this time.