ESTERO, Fla. – The South Dakota State men’s basketball team was officially announced as part of the 2018 Gulf Coast Showcase on Thursday morning, joining seven other teams in the Sunshine State tournament Nov. 19-21.
The Jackrabbits open the tourney against Tulane, with a second-round matchup scheduled for the following day against UC Irvine or UTSA. Louisiana, Colorado State, Toledo and host Florida Gulf Coast fill out the other side of the bracket and are possible opponents on the tournament’s final day of action.
“We are thrilled to play in such a quality tournament with excellent teams,” SDSU coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “The Gulf Coast Showcase will challenge our program and allow us to grow from the experience.”
SDSU, which earned an NCAA Tournament berth last season as Summit League champion, joins perhaps the most competitive field in the six years of the tournament, with four teams that won 20 or more games last season.
Louisiana (Sun Belt), FGCU (A-Sun) and Toledo (MAC West Division) each won regular-season titles.
The Gulf Coast Showcase men’s tournament, created specifically for mid-major programs, tips on Monday, Nov. 19 with the following pairings:
10 a.m. – South Dakota State vs. Tulane
12:30 p.m. – UC Irvine vs. UTSA
4 p.m. – Louisiana vs. Colorado State
6:30 p.m. – Florida Gulf Coast vs. Toledo
Game times for Tuesday and Wednesday will be the same, with semifinal games on Nov. 20 at 4 and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday’s championship game will tip at 6:30 p.m.
For the fourth consecutive year, the tournament will support the Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. The hospital is the only children’s hospital between Tampa and Miami and provides vital health care for the region’s sick and injured children and their families. The hospital’s new $242 million facility provides 300,000 square feet of space, 128 pediatric and NICU beds with space to expand to 160 beds, a 17-bay emergency department, a freestanding pediatric pharmacy and in-hospital school classroom.
Ticket and fan travel information
Tickets for the 2018 Gulf Coast Showcase are on sale now at GermainArena.com or through Ticketmaster.
All-Tournament passes for either the men’s tournament or women’s tournament are available for $74, $99 or $149 per tournament. Single-session tickets range from $10 general admission to $45 courtside for each two-game session.
Each day of the tournament will feature an afternoon session (starting at 10 a.m.) and evening session (4 p.m.) and tickets will be good for both games of a given session.
Fan travel information, including preferred hotel rates at the official tournament resort hotel – the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point – is available at
www.GulfCoastShowcase.com.
Campus games schedule/official name
In addition to the tournament games in Southwest Florida, participating teams will play an additional game at home sites.
To comply with the NCAA By-Laws on scheduling, the official title for this year’s event is the NIT Tip-Off - Gulf Coast Showcase Regional.
The schedule for games at home sites is as follows:
Nov. 7 – Colorado Christian at Colorado State
Nov. 9 – Louisiana at Tennessee
Nov. 10 – Wilberforce at Toledo
Nov. 12 – Life Pacific at UC Irvine
Nov. 16 – South Dakota State at Florida Gulf Coast
TBD – St. Edwards at UTSA
Photo from www.gojacks.com.
