Bears back at it, this time for $1 million

Where: Clayton State University

When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

A year ago, Bud Thomas was hanging out with All-Pro linebacker Von Miller and partying with the U.S. men’s national soccer team at the ESPYs.

It was that kind of summer. Thomas and fellow Mercer University starters Jakob Gollon, Anthony White Jr., Langston Hall and Daniel Coursey were instant sports celebrities after upsetting Duke in the 2014 NCAA tournament.

It was also around this time last year that Thomas said goodbye to his best friends — those fellow starters — as they all sat in a room on campus during their last night at Mercer. A bunch of strong guys neared tears as they remembered different episodes from their four years together.

“It was just like, ‘Dude, this is really over,’” White said. “And (we) just shook hands and walked away, man.”

Now, Thomas works in the financial department of a car dealership in Denver. He occasionally plays pick-up games at the gym and said he hasn’t lost his jumper. But for the most part his basketball days are done.

After his shot at $1 million, that is.

On July 11, the Mercer boys will suit up again at Clayton State University in the South regional of the Basketball Tournament, a 97-team national pick-up event with a $1 million first-place prize.

They’ll be joining forces with players from the 2012-13 Florida Gulf Coast team that beat Mercer for an NCAA tournament bid and danced all the way to the Sweet 16.

The team’s name: Bracket Busters.

“I’m like, ‘Yup.’ I didn’t even think twice about it,” White said. “Because those guys, as much as rivals as we were, they’re still really good guys and I thought it’d be fun to play together for once instead of trying to kill each other.”

The Mercer boys had spread far and wide since graduation.

White flew to Australia to play professionally. Hall signed with a pro team in Italy. Gollon moved home to Wisconsin to coach Division-III basketball. Coursey pursued the NBA with Orlando’s D-League team in Pennsylvania.

“It was definitely one of the harder things I’ve ever had to do,” Thomas said. “We were really not apart for four straight years. So, for one day to wake up and we’re all separated doing our own thing, (it) was definitely tough.”

Thomas landed back home in Denver after saying goodbye to basketball.

“I thought about it a long time, going back and forth if I wanted to play (professionally),” he said. “… I was so far away from my family in Denver for four years straight and I was just kind of ready to get back home and start my working career. My basketball career ended so well that I thought that was the perfect way to go out.”

When the Bracket Busters opportunity arose, it was a quick yes for Thomas and for his teammates. They all said they never expected everyone to play together again.

“That’s why I was so excited,” Thomas said. “I was ready to see them and team up with them again. And lacing up and warming up and getting out there with them again was way too hard to pass up on.”

Last time these guys wore the same jersey, Tennessee spanked them two days after they joined college basketball folklore by whipping Duke.

That folklore still follows them to this day. Duke-haters or Mercer-lovers still tell them their exact location when the final buzzer sounded on March 21, 2014. Hall said his teammates in Italy constantly talked to him about that game, some of them still mad because they’d picked Duke to win it all.

The Basketball Tournament is just a glorified pick-up marathon compared to the NCAAs, but Gollon said it lends a chance to be known for more than just beating Duke.

“I think that some guys would be deceiving you if they say that doesn’t define us, somewhat,” he said. “It’s a good thing and a bad thing, because you do want to be known for more than just that one game. … I think that we all recognize there’s another opportunity here to do something.”

On the surface, this tournament will resemble an over-the-hill big dance. Many teams are alumni from one college, like the defending champion Notre Dame Fighting Alumni.

“I wouldn’t quite say (it’s like) the NCAA tournament,” Gollon said with a laugh. “Just a really good YMCA pick-up league. Really, though, a lot of these guys are very talented.”

Liam Jones, the team’s general manager, said a committee seeds each region’s 24 teams based on qualities like college and professional experience.

Bracket Busters got a No. 4 seed, definitely not an underdog’s seed.

“Honestly, it might be kind of weird,” Coursey said. “We were the huge underdog and we’ve always been tagged as the underdog. … I think we’ll be able to overcome it. I don’t think that’ll really affect us that much because we know any underdog can beat us, so we can’t take anybody lightly.”

No matter their seed, Hall said the Bracket Busters may have an edge over the field: team chemistry built from four years together in Macon.

Also, Thomas’ jumper doesn’t hurt.

“I don’t think Bud could ever lose his shot,” Hall said, chuckling.