Going to Arizona: USC men’s basketball to play in brand new tournament in November
The South Carolina men’s basketball team will play in the inaugural Arizona Tip-Off tournament this November, the school announced Thursday.
Sponsored by Intersport, the tournament will be held the weekend before Thanksgiving at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, located across the street from the Arizona Cardinals’ State Farm Stadium — the host site for the 2024 Final Four.
Lamont Paris’ Gamecocks will compete in the tournament’s Cactus Division and open play Nov. 17 against DePaul, then will face either Grand Canyon or San Francisco on Nov. 19.
The rest of the tournament field includes Northern Arizona, Purdue Fort Wayne, South Dakota and VMI, who will compete in the Desert Division.
The Gamecocks are looking to build off of last year’s 11-21 season in Paris’ first season as head coach. The former five-year Chattanooga head coach has retooled the USC roster this offseason, bringing in big man transfer B.J. Mack from Wofford as well as veterans Ta’Lon Cooper (Minnesota), Myles Stute (Vanderbilt) and Stephen Clark (The Citadel).
South Carolina WBB announces game
About an hour after the announcement from the men’s team, the USC women’s basketball team also announced a 2023 non-conference game. The Gamecocks will play Utah on Sunday, Dec. 10 as part of a triple-header of games during the 2023 Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase.
The event, which is in its 10th season and sponsored by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, will be held at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. That arena’s home to the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA.
“We’re excited to be part of a great lineup of games in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase,” coach Dawn Staley said in a new release. “This long-running event is always done at a high level, and I love the experience of our team playing in a WNBA arena.”
Outside of South Carolina’s game against Utah, which made the Sweet 16 last year, the event will feature games between Florida State and UCLA and UConn and North Carolina. All game times are TBD.
USC returns seven players from last year’s squad that went 36-1 and lost in the Final Four to Iowa, coming up two wins short of an undefeated national championship repeat season after winning it all in 2022.
