St. Petersburg, Fla. -- Barry Brown Jr.’s basketball journey has taken him around the globe. After a standout career at Kansas State, the St. Pete native has gone on to play professionally in the NBA G League, Germany, and China.

This summer, the Gibbs alum is playing basketball in one of his favorite place of all…his hometown.

“Being back here for me was everything,” said Brown. “Being back at my alma mater, seeing people I haven’t seen in years honestly, watching me play again so it was fun for me.”

Brown is playing in The Different Route League or TDR for short. A new Pro-Am league in St. Pete started by fellow Gibbs alum Shaq Speights.

“So for the last couple years I’ve been training players in the St. Pete area, professionals overseas, some guys that have played in the NBA so I gained relationships with them and I just wanted to give them a platform to play basketball in the Tampa Bay area,” said Speights.

TDR League consists of six teams and features players from the Tampa Bay area as well as professionals and former college standouts. Games are played every Saturday at Gibbs High School with the season running from June 18 through Aug. 7. Tickets are $5 at the door and admission is free for everyone 18 and under.

“On the opening weekend we had T.J. Leaf (UCLA/Pacers), Barry Brown (Kansas State), Kasey Hill (Florida), Dayon Griffin (UCF), Scottie James (Liberty), Kevin Capers (Florida Southern), Ricky Torres (Wichita State), Michael Frazier (Florida) so a lot of high level guys.

It’s still early but Speights has high hopes for TDR League. “We’re not at the Drew League level but my plan is to get to that level one day here in Florida.”