Report: Reigning NCAA champion Villanova to play on Strand. See who else might come
Villanova, Baylor, Utah and Memphis will reportedly be participants in the second annual Myrtle Beach Invitational college basketball tournament, which will likely be played in November 2019.
Jon Rothstein, a college basketball reporter for CBS Sports and WFAN radio in New York, cites unnamed sources on Twitter in naming participating schools, which also include Mississippi State, Middle Tennessee, Ohio and Coastal Carolina.
The inaugural eight-team tournament is being held Nov. 15, 16 and 18 at the HTC Center on CCU’s campus in Conway, and features West Virginia, Wake Forest, St. Joseph’s, Cal State Fullerton, Central Florida, Valparaiso, Western Kentucky and Monmouth.
ESPN Events, which operates the tournament, said through a spokesperson Thursday that it wasn’t yet in a position to comment on the field, and Villanova communications and basketball officials would not confirm the team’s participation. ESPN Events is expected to announce the tentative 2019 field during this year’s tournament.
Coastal men’s basketball head coach Cliff Ellis confirmed his team’s participation in 2019, and said he has heard Villanova and Baylor are among the other committed teams, though he did not have confirmation.
If the field doesn’t expand, Rothstein’s list could be the entire list of teams.
CCU director of athletics Matt Hogue said teams can participate in the same tournament just once every four years per NCAA rules.
All 12 games of the 2018 tournament will be televised on ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS or online on ESPN3 beginning at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 15. The championship game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Nov. 18 on ESPN2.
All-session tickets are sold out, though there may be opportunities to buy and sell tickets on the Official Ticket Exchange.