(HOI) -- The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is set to return to Peoria this weekend and features the Illini alum team called "House of 'Paign." The team is back for its second year of TBT play and while the group is mostly comprised of former Illini players, there are a couple members who never played in Champaign-Urbana, including arguably the team's best player Mike Daum.
Daum, a 6'9" forward, is a graduate of South Dakota State University, but quickly turned himself into an Illini fan favorite during the House of 'Paign's 2020 TBT run to the Quarterfinals. He scored more than 20 points in both of the teams wins, which included an upset over the No. 1 seed "Carmen's Crew."
"It was awesome, I think everybody just called me the adopted little brother. For that, the fan base and everyone to kind of accept me and bring me in was one of a kind," said Daum.
His 2020 run was so outstanding that nearly every other team playing this year tried to pry him away from the orange and blue, but Daum remained loyal to the team.
"We were excited that he stayed out of the transfer portal so to speak. He was heavily pursued by a lot of different teams, but I think it speaks to what we were able to do last year and he loved being around the guys and he sees the potential that we have as a team to win a lot of games in this tournament," said House of 'Paign GM and Head Coach Mike Latulip.
"At the end of the day, I'm kind of one of those guys who's super faithful to who I start with or who gives me a chance right away. Doing it last year was a fantastic experience and now obviously I know a lot of the guys on the team and it was an easy decision for me to come back and want to play with this same group and give it another shot," explained Daum.
Another shot at the $1M and to put House of 'Paign back on center stage, this time in front of the Illini faithful at the Peoria Civic Center.
"I'm super excited to play with a lot of these guys, some of the same guys from last year, and I think we're gonna try to do something special this year," continued Daum.
House of 'Paign is the No. 2 seed in the Illinois Regional and will play No. 15 seed Jackson Tennessee Underdawgs at 1 p.m. inside Carver Arena.
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House of 'Paign ready to make some noise in TBT behind the 'Dauminator' - HOI ABC
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