By Alex “MereKat” LeMere
FOLKS! You’ve probably heard me say it a thousand times by now, but the city of Buffalo is BACK. No, I’m not referring to the cultural and developmental renaissance of the last decade – I’m talking about life in the city post-pandemic. There’s stands of Blue Jays games are packed with living, breathing fans (you served us well cardboard cutouts), mainstay events like the Taste of Buffalo announcing a return and just being able to walk around downtown and see people enjoying normal life. With more events to be announced for the Summer, there’s one taking place this week that has me more excited than pretty much anything else – The Buffalo Cold Rush Creator Basketball Event!
Thanks to Mark Coppola and Gerald Beverly at Buffalo Cold Rush (@BuffaloColdRush) , Buffalo is playing host to one of the coolest, innovative sport events we’ve seen. The Buffalo Cold Rush Creator Event is basically taking some of the best basketball players Western New York has ever seen and putting them up against a group of the biggest, most talented hoopers from TikTok and Instagram for a best-of-five tournament…possibly with some other fun events thrown into the mix!?
This is the type of event I’ve been craving to see hosted locally for a while now after years of being infatuated with the NBA celebrity all-star game and now a rise in “celebrity vs. pro” sporting events and we finally got one. And you already schnow that Ty B and I will be there for Trainwreck Sports to cover the entire event, which is sure to be packed to the brim with insane highlights and some entertaining hoops. There’s a perfect mix of true blooded basketball players and the high-flying dunkers and trick shooters of social media. The talent that’s being brought together in the St. Mary’s gym is actually kind of crazy and this is one event shouldn’t be slept on.
The tournament itself will consist of a matchup between the Buffalo squad, Team Meka, and the TikTok team, Team Raye, in a best-of-five tournament. It’ll be classic 5v5 pickup game format to 16 points with one and two point baskets and the first team to three wins take home the title. The games are sure to be electric with the level of skill and athleticism that these guys are going to put on display – it’s gonna be a lot of fun.
There’s been a dynamic building online about this matchup with the Buffalo based team looking to garner some respect for WNY basketball while these TikTokers have almost none for our long, proud history of hoops and think they can just come to our turf and leave easy winners?!? Mark and I actually talked about that on the phone a bit – how our area is one of the most underrated basketball cities between producing great players, the history of the Braves, hosting NCAA tournament games and other local competitions like the Gus Macker and now the rise to prominence for our UB Bulls. These content creators throwing shade on our city have no idea what’s in store for them come Thursday night (I hope lol).
If you don’t know Mark Coppola, he’s a local legend on the hardwood. Mark was first-team All-WNY and an ECIC DII player of the year at Williamsville South where his #21 is retired plus a three-year captain holding multiple assist records at Daemen – where he helped lead them to two conference titles. In his post-playing career, he’s coached everywhere from his alma mater Daemen to overseas in the Italian Serie A, even recently interning with the Dallas Mavericks. When I was on the phone with Mark talking about the tournament, you can tell he’s passionate about putting Buffalo on the forefront of the basketball world and planning this tournament shows that.
The event takes place Thursday, July 8th in the St. Mary’s high school’s gym (142 Laverack Ave, Lancaster, NY 14086) starting at 7:00 P.M. Tickets to see the action in person are available, both for presale online for $15 (Preorder here: https://buffalocoldrush.com/products/buffalo-cold-rush-creator-event-in-person-tickets-thursday-july-8th-7-pm-est) or at the door for $20. Can’t make it out? Don’t worry, the whole thing will be live streamed PPV-style with the cost to watch just $10 (PPV available here: https://buffalocoldrush.com/products/buffalo-cold-rush-tournament). What’re you going to be doing on a Thursday at 7 that’s more entertaining than this?
The lineups for both teams are stacked in this one, here’s how things have panned out for this matchup:
TEAM MEKA (Buffalo)
Emeka Uzomba (Buffalo TikTok Star): CEO of LayHerrrs and one of the most entertaining basketball players in Buffalo. Does it all on the court offensively and was instrumental in bringing this whole tournament together.
Social Handle: @mekaaaaaaaaaa (477K+ TikTok/13K+ IG)
Casey Sheehan (Former Daemen College All-American): Former Daemen College Division 2 All-American. Casey is from Rochester, NY and has some of the best handles in the WNY area. This lefty is as smooth as they come.
Social Handle: @caseysheehan10
Massai Graham (Tapestry HS Star): Buffalo’s best high school dunker (and player?) out of Tapestry High School and a Division 1 prospect. He is a walking, talking human highlight reel.
Social Handle: @sai.graham (2K+ IG)
Jaeger Martino (D’Youville College Star): Currently playing at D’Youville College, Jaeg is as entertaining as they come with his dunking abilities. A monster athlete on the court and a dating guru on TikTok!
Social Handle: @jaycrushalot (53K+ TikTok/5K+ IG)
Gerald Beverly (Japanese Pro Player): Gerald helps run the Buffalo Cold Rush in his offseason…when he’s not playing professional basketball in Japan! Mark’s former Daemen teammate has played in the NBA G-league and professionally all over the world…watch out Team TikTok.
Social Handle: @gbev55 (9.5K+ TikTok/ 3.5K+ IG)
TEAM RAYE (TikTok)
Raye Mckinney (TikTok Star): Raye may only be 5’8″ but has an arsenal of dunks at his disposal. He puts his skills to use for basketball content and skits!
Social Handle: @ypk.raye (1.2+ million TikTok/30K+ IG)
Jordan Southerland AKA “1 Foot God” (Instagram Star): Known as the best one foot dunker in the world! There is a reason he’s called the 1footgod and is one of the most renown dunkers in the game of basketball.
Social Handle: @1footgod (42.3K+ TikTok/206K+ IG)
Jayden Beloti (TikTok Star): 1/2 of the Beloti Brothers, Jayden is a college level player and crushed TikTok with his funny basketball skits.
Social Handle: @Beloti_10 (402K+ TikTok/4.5K+ IG)
Brandon Beloti (TikTok Star): Brandon is the other half of the Beloti brothers and D2 college basketball player. He’s a strong, physical player making a name for himself on the court and on TikTok.
Social Handle: @beloti44 (223K+ TikTok/9.5K+ IG)
Jack Woodruff (TikTok Star): A creator with a passion for playing basketball and entertaining. Best known for his insane trick shots. Has been featured on ESPN.
Social Handle: @jackwoodrufff (537K+ TikTok/44K+ IG)
Andrew Sischo (Daemen College All-American): A current D2 All-American at Daemen College, where he was coached by Mark. He’s going into his Senior year as the most decorated Daemen Basketball player of all-time with his personal and team accomplishments. Yes he is a Buffalo guy, but someone needs to guard Gerald lol.
Social Handle: @andrewsischo22 (1K IG)
Remember to make sure you’re following @BuffaloColdRush on IG, TikTok & Twitter to keep up with the tournament and future projects and @TrainwreckSprts for all of our coverage during and after the event! Again, the link to the PPV is right here: https://buffalocoldrush.com/products/buffalo-cold-rush-tournament
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