George Mason and ODU will compete as part of a strong eight team field at the 2019 Cayman Islands Classic this November.
In addition to the Patriots and Monarchs, tournament participants include Power 5 programs Nebraska and Washington State, as well as Loyola Chicago, New Mexico State, USF and Colorado State.
The event will be held Nov. 25-27 on the island of Grand Cayman. In addition, George Mason and ODU will each host an opening round home game as part of the competition inside EagleBank Arena.
“We are thrilled to be competing against such a strong field,” said ODU coach Jeff Jones. “Who wouldn’t want to be in the Cayman Islands?”
“Our program is looking forward to competing in the 2019 Cayman Islands Classic,” George Mason coach Dave Paulsen said. “The tournament field is balanced with talented teams from across the country and we will be challenged throughout the three-game event. In addition, as a staff, we strive to provide our student-athletes with opportunities to enrich their experiences beyond basketball. This is the third international trip for our program over the past three seasons, and our guys will continue to broaden their education by traveling to this beautiful part of the world and learning about the history of Grand Cayman and the British Territories.”
The field
Nebraska, which reached the NIT Round of 16 in 2018-19, returns a solid core from that team and will feature a series of high-profile transfers under new head coach Fred Hoiberg. Washington State also has a new head coach in former University of San Francisco bench boss Kyle Smith.
The tournament features a pair of teams which qualified for the 2019 NCAA Tournament: ODU and New Mexico State, which made the Big Dance for the eighth time in the past 10 seasons and came within a possession of upending Auburn, which went on to make the 2019 Final Four. The Aggies return three of their top scorers from that team and welcome a series of transfers heading into 2019-20.
After enjoying a Cinderella run to the Final Four in 2018, Loyola Chicago again made the postseason in 2019 with a berth in the NIT. Big man Cameron Krutwig (14.8 ppg) will lead the Ramblers in 2019 as they again look to top the conference standings in the Missouri Valley.
One of the under-the-radar teams heading into 2019-20 will be the University of South Florida. The Bulls won 24 games in 2018-19 and took two out of three games from DePaul to win the 2019 CBI crowd. USF returns all three of its top scorers – David Collins (15.7 ppg), LaQuincy Rideau (12.8 ppg) and Alexis Yetna (12.1 ppg).
Rounding out the tournament field, Mason may have an opportunity to match up with Mountain West foe Colorado State the year before the A-10 and MWC begin a non-conference scheduling alliance (2020-21). The Rams, under head coach Niko Medved, return top scorer Nico Carvacho, who averaged 16.1 points last season.
Tournament info
The Cayman Islands Classic enters its third year in 2019. Clemson (2017) and Creighton (2018) claimed the first two championships. The Nov. 25-27, 2019, tournament will be held inside John Gray Gymnasium in Georgetown on the island of Grand Cayman.
Fans can visit CaymanIslandsClassic.com for ticket information (announced at a later date) and hotel accommodations. The tournament also features a Twitter account (@CaymanClassic) and Instagram account (@caymanclassic), as well as a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/
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Chris Graham
