SMU Faces TCU In Tip-Off Showcase To Open Basketball Season
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DALLAS (SMU/bd Global) – The SMU men’s basketball team will take on rival TCU in one of three games to be played at the Tip-Off Showcase at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, bd Global announced at a press conference on Tuesday. The other two games of the Nov. 8 triple header are Oklahoma vs. Alabama, and Baylor vs. Colorado.
Metroplex bragging rights will be on the line when the annual SMU-TCU rivalry moves to American Airlines Center. SMU enters its second season under Hall of Fame Head Coach Larry Brown. The 2013-14 Mustangs return all five starters, while adding the No. 14 ranked recruiting class and three transfers who sat out last season. SMU will also open the renovated and expanded Moody Coliseum during the season, which is its first in the American Athletic Conference. The Mustangs went 15-17 last year with Cannen Cunningham, Jalen Jones, Ryan Manuel, Nick Russell, and Shawn Williams starting the entire season. They are joined by transfers Nic Moore (from Illinois State), Markus Kennedy (from Villanova) and Crandall Head (from Illinois). The recruiting class that is ranked as high as No. 14 includes McDonald’s All-American Keith Frazier, the nation’s top junior college prospect in Yanick Moreira, and a pair of Illinois’ Mr. Basketball finalists from the Chicago area in
Sterling Brown and Ben Moore.
“Everybody wants to end here, but only a few will start here, and it would be special to do both,” associate head coach Tim Jankovich said. “”It’s been a great year for us recruiting-wise and we have all five starters back. We have added eight new pieces and are headed to a new league. We have big challenges ahead of us but are really excited about it. It’s such a benefit for recruiting to play in an event like this.”
Tickets ranging from $29 – $199 (courtside seating), go on sale Thursday, Sept. 5 at 10 a.m. at American Airlines Center Box Office, Ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster locations or by phone at 800-745-3000. SMU men’s basketball season ticket holders will have the option to purchase tickets for the game as an add-on to their package.
The event is managed by bd Global, LLC, a Lexington, Ky.-based sports marketing firm that is also running college basketball events in Las Vegas, Houston and Southwest Florida for the 2013-14 season. This marks the third time the group has played a college basketball event at the AAC in the past four years.
Complete event information can be found at www.TipOffShowcase.com. For group sales parties should contact bd Global at 859-951-6141.
“Launching a true college basketball tip-off event is not only exciting but an idea that is long overdue,” said Brooks Downing, president of bd Global (www.bdglobalsports.com), the event promoter. “We are excited to open up the new season with three great games featuring tremendous regional programs and national talent. I think this is going to be a special day in Dallas for basketball fans.”
