NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS NEW MEXICO STATE, OLD DOMINION HEADLINE CAYMAN ISLANDS CLASSIC

The
countdown is on for the 2019 Cayman Islands Classic basketball
tournament which takes place next week from 25 to 27 November at the
John Gray gym. Only in its third year the event has evolved into one
of the premier college preseason basketball tournaments.

This
year’s tournament field features New
Mexico State and Old
Dominion who advanced to the
2019 NCAA Tournament, while Loyola
of Chicago and Nebraska played
in the NIT and South
Florida captured the 2019
College Basketball Invitational championship.

Word
about the Cayman Islands Classic has traveled fast around basketball
circles and the coaches are excited about the chance to play in the
Cayman Islands.

“We are very excited about participating in the Cayman Islands Classic,” said Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg. “I have spoken with multiple coaches who played in the event in recent years and all have said it is a first-class event held in a beautiful location. We believe this will be a tremendous experience for our team and our fans.”

 “The Cayman Islands Classic is without a doubt one of the nation’s premier holiday tournaments,” said Old Dominion head coach Jeff Jones. “Maury Hanks has put together an extremely competitive field and we are thrilled to be a part of it. Visiting the Cayman Islands and enjoying the world class beaches and hotels will be a great treat for our team and fans."

Games
start on Monday and will take place at 11 a.m., 1:30pm, 5:00pm and
7:30 p.m. each day through Wednesday, 27 November with the
championship game scheduled at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Tickets
are on sale at Eventpro.ky OR at the box office at the gym before
each game. Special local price of CI$25 per game and $15 for kids
under 12. The final game is CI$35, kids remain the same.

Attendees
will enjoy a tailgating zone with food and drinks on sale from Burger
Shack, Smoothie King, D’Corn Shack, Cayman Spirits and CayBrew.
There will also be music inside and out, a full interactive
inflatable sports theme park by McGee Adventure Park and half-time
contests with cool prizes.

For
more information about the Cayman Islands Classic visit
www.caymanislandsclassic.com
and for online tickets visit EventPro.ky.

TEAM
PROFILES

Colorado
State

The
Rams, under the guidance of second-year head coach Niko Medved, are
hoping to earn their eighth invitation for postseason play in the
last 11 years.

Six-foot,
11-inch, 245-pound senior center Nico Carvacho, who led the NCAA in
rebounding last season with a 13.2 average, is one of four returning
starters.

Carvacho,
who also led the team with a 16.1 scoring average, earned first-team
All-Mountain West Conference and was named to the league’s
All-Defensive team last year while being selected for U.S. Basketball
Writer’s Association All-District honors.

Medved is
also counting on improvement from senior guards Kris Martin and Hyron
Edwards and sophomores Adam Thistlewood and Kendle Moore.

Martin
(9.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.6 apg) started 16 of the Rams final 27 games.
Edwards averaged 6.8 points after becoming eligible in the second
semester after transferring from Texas Tech. Thistlewood, a 6-6
forward, averaged 8.6 points and 2.9 rebounds; while Moore, a 5-10
point guard, averaged 8.6 points and 2.7 assists while leading the
team in steals (1.3 avg.).

Among the
seven newcomers, two bring collegiate experience to the roster, as
junior guard Kyle Lukasiewicz played two years of junior college
basketball and sophomore guard P.J. Byrd spent last year at VCU.

“I
think we’ve improved our talent level,” added Medved. “I really
like the way these guys work, but we’re very inexperienced. I don’t
want to use that as a crutch. Just because we’re inexperienced,
that doesn’t mean we can’t be good this year.”

George
Mason

The
Patriots,under
coach Dave Paulsen, posted an 18-15 record this past season while
winning the most conference games (11) since joining the Atlantic 10
Conference in 2013-14.

Senior
guard Justin Kier, named the Atlantic 10 Most Improved Player, is one
of four returning starters for the Patriots who are projected as an
Atlantic 10 Conference contender.

Kier
collected seven double-doubles last year and was one of just 11
players nationally to average 14.0 points, 6.0 rebounds. 2.5 assists
and 1.4 steals. He is the Patriots’ top returning player after
leading the team in scoring (14.2 avg.) and rebounding (7.6 avg.)
while earning all-league honors.

Six-foot
6-inch sophomore Jordan Miller, who averaged 10.4 points and a
team-high 7.1 rebounds, also returns along with 6-2 junior Javon
Greene (9.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg) who developed into the team’s top
perimeter defender.

5-10
sophomore Jamal Hartwell II, who shot 44.6 percent beyond the
three-point arc, will have a bigger playing role along with 6-1
freshman Xavier Johnson, who was a second-team Washington Post
all-Metro pick last year.

Other
returning veterans in the frontline include 6-8 junior Greg Calixte
(4.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg), who shot 61.1 percent from the floor and 6-7 AJ
Wilson (3.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg) who led the team with 31 blocked shots.

George
Mason is one of four Atlantic 10 programs to finish .500 or better in
league play the last three seasons (along with Rhode Island, St.
Bonaventure, VCU) but can they take the next step with an NCAA
Tournament push?

“I
think whenever it is when we hit on all cylinders,” said Paulsen.
“I would like to think it would be built to last, where it can
perpetuate itself. So, I think we’re close. That last hit is the
hardest to overcome, that last little gap. It’s also the hardest to
predict – when it’s going to happen.”

Loyola

Loyola is
coming off a 20-14 campaign in 2018-19, in which it captured a second
straight Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title and earned a
NIT berth.

Over the
last five seasons, head coach Porter Moser has guided Loyola to three
post-season berths (CBI in 2015, NCAA in 2018, NIT in 2019) and a
record of 109-64 (.630). Its 52 wins over the last two seasons tied a
program record.

Although
Loyola returns three starters from last season, this will be one of
the youngest teams Moser has guided since the Ramblers joined the MVC
in 2013-14. The roster features seven eligible newcomers, including
three highly touted freshmen, along with three transfers.

Graduation
losses include back-to-back MVC Players of the Year in Clayton Custer
and Marques Townes.

But
junior center Cameron Krutwig is one of three returning starters
along with 6-4 junior guard Lucas Williamson and 6-7 junior forward
Aher Uguak.

“We
had back-to-back Players of the Year,” said Moser. “That’s
losing a lot. We lost a tremendous amount but I like our new guys. I
like our old guys. And that’s the good thing about leadership --
when Cameron and Lucas were freshmen, Donte and Clay and Ben were the
upper classmen, so that’s all they knew.”

Krutwig,
a 6-9, 255-pound southpaw, was named the 2019-20 MVC Preseason Player
of the Year, after leading the league in field goal percentage (.629)
while averaging 14.8 points and 7.2 rebounds. He is the lone starter
left from Loyola’s 2018 Final Four team.

Williamson,
who missed 18 games last season with a broken right hand, averaged
8.8 points and 5.9 rebounds, 1.7
assists and 1.6 steals per game, while shooting 41.3 percent
(26-for-63) from three-point territory. 
A
key reserve on Loyola’s Final Four team as a freshman in 2017-18,
the 6-4 guard quickly established himself as one of the conference’s
best lockdown defenders.

Uguak,
who began his collegiate career at the University of New Mexico,
averaged 5.8 points and 3.5 rebounds while
shooting 50.4 percent (68-for-135) last season in his first year of
eligibility at Loyola.

Two
players who figured to have prominent roles for Loyola are sidelined.
Sophomore guard Cooper
Kaifes, who
shot 46.5 (53-for-114) percent from three-point range a year ago and
earned MVC All-Freshman Team recognition, underwent offseason hip
surgery that will cause him to miss the entire 2019-20 campaign.
Junior Keith Clemons, who averaged 15.1 points while leading
Vincennes (Ind.) to the National Junior College Championships last
year, is sidelined four to six weeks following an Oct. 23 knee
surgery.

Nebraska

For
Nebraska basketball coach Fred Hoiberg, the building process began
quickly. With the graduation of three multi-year starters, including
All-Big Ten performer James Palmer Jr. and Glynn Watson Jr., as well
as the departure of NBA Draft pick Isaiah Roby, the Huskers were
going to have a different look in 2019-20.

Thanks to
his experience in the NBA as a coach and player, plus his success
leading Iowa State, Hoiberg brings a solid resume to Nebraska and
will play an up-tempo style that is attractive to fans and recruits.

Of the 16
players listed on Nebraska’s roster, just one appeared in a game
for Nebraska last year – junior swingman Thorir Thorbjarnarson,

Hoiberg
found 14 players in less than three months who can play the up-tempo
style that Hoiberg implemented during his five years at Iowa State
where the Cyclones advanced to four NCAA Tournaments from 2010-15,
including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2014, before he became head coach
of the Chicago Bulls from 2015-18.

The
newcomers are headed by 6-2 sophomore point guard Cam Mack, who
averaged 19.1 points and 7.6 assists at Salt Lake Community College
last year and was rated as the No. 3 juco recruit in the country; 6-4
junior forward Dachon Burke, who earned second-team All-Northeast
Conference honors at Robert Morris (17.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.5 apg) and
Haanif Cheatham a 6-6 graduate transfer.

Cheatham
started 63 games at Marquette, averaging 10.1 points before
transferring to Florida Gulf Coast where he played 10 games before a
shoulder injury knocked him out for the year.

Junior
college combo guard Jervay Green, who earned second-team All-American
honors at Western Nebraska Community College where he averaged 23. 6
points and 5.3 assists, also will contribute.

“I’m
coming in with an open mind,” said Hoiberg. “At Iowa State, I
don’t think anybody was expecting much the first year. We ended up
with a .500 record and then went to the NCAA Tournament four straight
seasons. That’s what we’re looking to do. I wouldn’t have taken
this job if I didn’t think we could win at a high level.

New
Mexico State

The
Aggies have a rich basketball tradition having played in the NCAA
Tournament eight times in the past 10 years, including the last three
straight.

New
Mexico State gave eventual NCAA Final Four participant Auburn all it
could handle before suffering a 78-77 loss in the first round of the
2019 NCAA Tournament. The Aggies also came within three points of
beating Kansas and went 5-0 against Mountain West and Pac 12 teams
last year.

Behind
head coach Chris Jans, the Aggies are the two-time defending Western
Athletic Conference regular season and post-season tournament
champion, coming off a school-record 30-5 overall mark this past
season.

“We
anticipate our returnees being pretty motivated after the close
loss,” Jans says. “In my experience when you get a taste of it at
that level, it normally motivates the guys coming back to get back to
that level. Fortunately that’s been the case around here.”

Jans
enters his third year with the nation’s deepest rotation, returning
seven of his top nine scorers while fielding one of the deepest
rotations in the country with nine returning players who averaged
double figure minutes last season.

The
backcourt features returning starters Terrell Brown (11.6 ppg, 2.6
rpg, .420 3PT) and A.J. Harris (9.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 3.3 aspg). Brown, a
6-1 senior, earned first team all-league and all-newcomer honors in
his first season, finishing fifth in the league in scoring. Harris
earned second-team all-league honors and was named to the
all-defensive team. Six-foot-eight senior Ivan Aurrecoechea (9.6 ppg,
5.3 rpg) was a stalwart in the frontcourt and his role will expand
after starting center Eli Chuha (9.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg) graduated.

6-6
Trevelin Queen (7,8 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.7 apg) was named the MVP of the
WAC Tournament after scoring 26 points in the championship game
against

Grand
Canyon. Clayton Henry started 25 games last year, averaging 5.4 ppg
and 3.2 rpg). 6-0 senior guard Shunn Buchanan (2.1 ppg, 2.5 apg)
along with 6-7 redshirt seniors Johnny McCants (6.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and
C.J. Bobbitt (4.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg) should continue to increase their
productivity.

Old
Dominion

Guard Xavier
Green, the Conference-USA tournament most valuable player, is among
the top returning players for the Monarchs who posted 26-9 record
last year, winning the league title with a 13-5 mark, while advancing
to the NCAA Tournament for first time at the school since 2011.

The
Monarchs are 122-49 over the past five years – thanks to defense
and patience — ranking sixth in the NCAA in scoring defense last
year (60.9) and ninth in field goal percentage defense (39.1)

“The
biggest thing we’ve seen on a daily basis is how motivated our
players are,” said Jeff Jones who is in his seventh year as head
coach. “The guys got a taste of playing in the tournament. That
provided even more motivation to get back.”

During
Jones’ tenure the Monarch have finished in the top three of the
league standings five straight seasons (62-25 in C-USA) while winning
25 games four times in that span.

Green, a
6-6-redshirt junior shooting guard (9.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, .406 3 PT),
will be asked to ignite the offense

“His
ceiling is so high,” said Jones. “We’re really excited about
him. He has a great work ethic and attitude. I don’t see him
slowing down. In the three years he’s been in our program, he’s
been the most improved player twice. He’s had a great summer and he
could end up being the most improved player again.

Six-foot-one
junior Malik Curry, who averaged 21.9 points and 5.9 rebounds at Palm
Beach State Junior College, looks to fill the void at point guard
with the departure of Ahmad Caver (16.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg). Marquis Godwin
(7.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg), whose season ended after playing in only 13 games
last year, is a 6-5 junior guard.

Frontline
veterans include 6-7 senior Aaron Carver (2.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and 6-8
sophomore power forward Kalu Ezikpe (4.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg), while 7-0
junior Dajour Dickens is an ideal anchor for a physical Monarchs
defense. Clemson transfer A.J. Oliver was a four-star prep prospect
and should contribute immediately.

South
Florida

There
will be no overlooking South Florida, which has four starters back
from a team that went 24-11 overall, winning the College Basketball
Invitational while posting an 8-10 record in the American Athletic
Conference.

Last
year the Bulls were picked last in the coaches’ preseason poll.
They will be a definite factor in the league race this year. South
Florida looks
to ride the momentum from this past season when it was the most
improved program in the NCAA winning 14 more games than in 2017-18.

Second-year
head coach Brian Gregory has three top players to continue the Bulls’
rise in the American Athletic Conference headed by junior guard David
Collins, who was named the most valuable player in the College
Basketball Invitational.

Eight
of its top 10 minutes leaders from last year return including four
starters , which could propel the Bulls a step up in the post-season
ladder.

“Now
the challenge for those guys is that they have never been put in a
position in their college careers where there are expectations,”
said Gregory. “Sometimes, that’s a bigger challenge than when
you’re not supposed to be good and you are playing without any
pressure.”

South
Florida’s strength is the starting backcourt comprised of 6-3
junior David Collins – the team’s leading scorer (15.9 ppg, 3.8
rpg, 3.1 apg, 2.1 spg, .313 3pt) and 6-1 senior guard Laquincy Rideau
(13. 4 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 5.4 apg, 2.9 spg, .338 3PT) a pair of dynamic
attack-oriented players who compliment one another at both ends.

Collins
became the first player in AAC history to lead the league in steals
and assists and was one of only three players in the NCAA with 100
assists and 100 steals.

Zach
Dawson, a 6-3 sophomore transfer from Oklahoma State, fortifies the
backcourt. Justin Brown, a 6-6 junior wing, connected on a team-high
65 treys last year averaging 8.3 points and 2.6 rebounds

Michael
Durr, a 7-foot 245-pound sophomore, (5.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.2 bpg, .510
FG) could develop into one of the league’s top big men.

The
Bulls lost the services of 6-8, 231-pound Alex Yetna (12.3 ppg, 9.6
rpg, .539 FG) who established himself as the AAC’s best all-around
rebounder, leading the league in rebounds and double-doubles (15),
with a left knee injury suffered five days before the season opener

Washington
State

Kyle
Smith enters his first year as head coach with the Cougars after
enjoying success at Columbia and San Francisco where he guided the
Dons to three straight 20-win campaigns.

Six-foot
six-inch sophomore wing CJ Elleby (14.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg) who tested the
NBA waters after becoming the school’s highest scoring freshman
ever, returns. He’s also a long-range threat shooting 41.4 percent
beyond the arc

“You
don’t have to run (plays) much for him. If you give him the ball,
he’ll find a way to score,“ said Smith.

Forward
Marvin Cannon, the team’s third leading scorer, also returns.

Newcomers
expected to contribute include 6-5 combo guard Noah Williams, the son
of former Cougar standout Guy (The Fly) Williams and forward Daron
Henson, a transfer from Salt Lake Community College who will likely
play power forward; 6-6 grad transfer Deion James (10.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg
at Colorado State), and 7-1 freshman Volodymyr (Vova) Markovetskyy
from Ukraine.

Isaac
Bonton, a transfer from Casper (Wyo.) Junior College, who began his
career at Montana State, will handle the point guard duties.

Another
priority for Smith will be to improve the team’s defense which
ranked last in the Pac-12 last year.