By Rocco Miller
Intersport’s newest Multi-Team Event (MTE) is here, the Arizona Tip-Off. The same company that has hosted numerous successful College Basketball events including the Fort Myers Tip-Off, the College All-Star Slam Dunk Contest & 3-point Shootout, and the 3X3U National Championships - has its newest idea ready to reveal: A bracketed Tip-Off event in Glendale, Arizona. The bracketed games will be played between November 17th thru 19th, making for a quality fall weekend experience in the desert. Each of the eight teams will also participate in one on-campus game as part of the event.
Desert Diamond Arena is prepared to host the innagural 2023 Arizona Tip-Off in Glendale.
2023 TEAMS Revealed
The 2023 Arizona Tip-Off will include two Divisions, the Cactus Divison and the Desert Divison. DePaul, Grand Canyon, South Carolina and San Francisco make up the Cactus Division and will play in a bracketed event on November 17th and 19th inside Desert Diamond Arena..
The Desert Division will feature South Dakota, VMI, Northern Arizona, and Purdue Fort Wayne. These four programs will play in bracketed Semifinal games on November 17th, followed by a 3rd Place and Championship Game on November 18th.
ON-CAMPUS MATCHUPS
November 12th: Northern Arizona at Grand Canyon
November 13th: South Dakota at DePaul
November 13th: VMI at South Carolina
November 22nd: Purdue Fort Wayne at San Francisco
CACTUS DIVISION PREVIEW
The Cactus Division is an intriguing one with quite a mix of teams. We welcome two power-six teams in South Carolina and DePaul to go along with highly successful non-power programs in San Francisco and Grand Canyon. These four will battle it out in a four-team bracketed tournament to be played on November 17th and 19th.
SOUTH CAROLINA – It was a challenging first year for HC Lamont Paris in Columbia a season ago. The SEC is loaded with tremendous head coaches and resources to acquire talent. The head man for the Gamecocks is certainly as qualified as they come and was a tremendously successful coach at Chattanooga. The Gamecocks have attacked the portal to turn things around and signed BJ Mack, an ultra-efficient transfer from Wofford. Mack is one of the best stat stuffers in the nation and will be counted on heavily in the upcoming year. Gamecocks also bring in Ta’Lon Cooper (via Minnesota), Myles Stute (via Vanderbilt), and The Citadel’s leading scorer, Stephen Clark (nearly 17 PPG at SoCon level).
DePAUL – The Tony Stubblefield era enters its third season in the Windy City. The Blue Demons have shown promise the past two years, but the rugged Big East has kept DePaul an arm’s length away consistently from NCAAT consideration. Six conference victories in Stubblefield’s first season were tied for the most since 2006-07. Now the league gets even tougher with Georgetown’s hiring of Ed Cooley and St. John’s hiring of Hall of Famer Rick Pitino. The Blue Demons will need to be crisp from day one to move the needle this season, which makes this Arizona Tip-Off appearance all the more critical. DePaul welcomes Chico Carter, Jr. from South Carolina as an impact transfer, adding more juice to the Arizona Tip-Off potential matchup against his former team. Jeremiah Oden (via Wyoming), Elijah Fisher (via Texas Tech), and Jaden Henley (via Minnesota) each bring potential and experience to the Blue Demons.
SAN FRANCISCO – HC Chris Gerlufsen prepares for his second season on the Hilltop in charge of this burgeoning Dons’ program. San Francisco won the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City and faced Grand Canyon during that run. Dons and Lopes could meet again this season in Glendale. USF finished last year strong by getting back to the WCC semifinals by knocking off local rival Santa Clara in a thrilling OT comeback. USF has to replace the all-everything guard, Khalil Shabazz this coming year. Dons addressed some needs by grabbing two excellent athletes in Jonathan Mogbo (via Missouri State) and Malik Thomas (via USC). Stefan Todorovic (via SMU) has a high upside as the next great perimeter shooter. The Dons return key experience with Marcus Williams, Josh Kunen, Ndewedo (AKA Chips), Saba Gigiberia, and Isaiah Hawthorne all back to compete. USF still has a roster spot and is hopeful to get more good news soon (as of press time).
GRAND CANYON – The Lopes represent two things for the Arizona Tip-Off. One, they are about as close to a host school as possible and will be able to bring the Havocs student section to these games. And two, they are the only team in the field that made the 2023 NCAA Tournament. GCU was part of the most difficult WAC season in recent memory – an underappreciated and terrific league in the West. Lopes were forced to win four straight games to get to the NCAA’s a year ago, and did exactly that. In the NCAAT, they trailed Gonzaga by just four at Halftime before eventually falling 82-70. The year ended on such a high note, and this offseason GCU just continues to get good news. The talented quartet of Ray Harrison, Jovan Blackshear, Jr., Gabe McGlothan, and Josh Baker are all returning and bring a ton of cohesion/experience under HC Bryce Drew. In addition, the Lopes plan to bring in seven players from the Portal. Collin Moore is a proven scorer from Georgia State. Lok Wur was a highly recruited player who is coming south from Oregon. Tyon Grant-Foster comes in from DePaul, another fun Arizona Tip-off storyline.
DESERT DIVISION PREVIEW
The quartet of South Dakota, VMI, Northern Arizona, and Purdue Fort Wayne will play a four-team bracketed tournament to be played on November 17th and 18th.
SOUTH DAKOTA – Head Coach Eric Peterson enters his second season in Vermillion. The Coyotes are eager to get back to the top of the Summit League and the Arizona Tip-off will serve as one of the early indicators of what this USD bunch is capable of. The Coyotes are working hard to fill the roster and have already landed two high major transfers in Lahat Thioune (via UCF) and Bostyn Holt (via Utah). Another addition is Kaleb Stewart (via Louisiana Tech), who should have a major role this season.
VMI – Another second-year coach looks to lead his squad through a successful Arizona Tip-Off journey in HC Andrew Wilson. The Keydets had to completely rebuild following the exit of HC Dan Earl and SoCon juggernaut big man, Jake Stephens, a year ago. Now VMI looks to make strides in 23-24 up the SoCon standings. The unique thing at VMI is they have a difficult time bringing in transfers while also losing many players (seven this year) to the portal. So they went out and signed a 2023 High School class containing seven players. Some of the recruits are record holders at the high school level and it will be interesting to see who the Alpha’s are because they will all likely get a chance to play in November.
NORTHERN ARIZONA – Where were you last March when NAU stunned top-seed Eastern Washington in the Big Sky Tournament Quarterfinals? It was an epic triumph for an over-starved Lumberjack program and it propelled HC Shane Burcar and the Jacks to its first Big Sky Tournament Title Game appearance in 15 years. NAU looks to build on that March momentum entering the 23-24 campaign but will have to do so without playmaker and sharpshooter, Jalen Cone (transferred to Cal). Seniors Nik Mains and Xavier Fuller also depart. The Jacks turn to Carson Towt, Oakland Fort, Liam Lloyd (son of AZ HC Tommy Lloyd), and Trenton McLaughlin all are back to take this program another step forward. NAU will also get to stay in State for the game at GCU and of course, the two games in the bracket, creating potentially a slight edge.
PURDUE FORT WAYNE – The most knowledgeable underground scouts that I am fortunate to know are all raving about Rasheed Bello. He was named Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (D2) Player of the Year after averaging 17.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per game at Wisconsin-Parkside. Rumblings are saying a ceiling of becoming an all-Horizon League performer is well within reach. A more decorated D1 transfer is Jalen Jackson (via Illinois-Chicago). Jackson is a Fort Wayne native and really began to peak for UIC last February. HC Jon Coffman has had this Mastadon program close a few times to really break through, this would be as good a year as ever to make that NCAAT appearance happen. The question will once again be on the defensive side of the ball where in the nine seasons under Coffman, the Mastadons have yet to have an Adjusted defensive efficiency rank in the Top 200 in the nation. Regardless, this is an entertaining bucket-getting team, that the masses will enjoy watching in the Arizona Tip-Off.