BYU, NC State, Ole Miss, and Purdue are planning to headline the 2024 Rady Children's Invitational at LionTree Arena in San Diego, multiple sources told Bracketeer.Org. NC State and Ole Miss are finalizing agreements to participate in the 2024 field.
The event's official dates are Thursday, November 28th (Semifinal Round) and Friday, November 29th (3rd Place Game/Championship Game). This is not an official release.
Arkansas will not participate as initially anticipated in the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego next season. Ole Miss was slated to play in the Preseason NIT event in Brooklyn, NY - that event will be moved to another location, details are still emerging. Notre Dame was originally in this event and recently left for the Players NIL Festival in Las Vegas.
THE EXPECTED FIELD
Purdue is coming off a memorable run to the National Championship game this past season and the Boilermakers return several pieces of their roster despite losing Zach Edey.
NC State is coming off a wild ride to the Final Four in 2024. The NC State addition gives the event, two reigning Final Four teams. The Wolfpack will be an old team again with the return of Michael O’Connell and the addition of Brandon Huntley-Hatfield to go along with Senior vets, Jayden Taylor and Ben Middlebrooks.
Year two of the Chris Beard era is ahead at Ole Miss. The Rebels feel good about their chances to succeed this season with Jaylen Murray, Matthew Murrell, and Jaemyn Brakefield all back in the fold. Each player in this trio averaged in double-figures a season ago. The Rebels also brought in five additional newcomers who averaged in double-figures at their respective previous stops. Malik Dia headlines this group, a versatile big who had a high usage rate at Belmont last season.
BYU enters the Kevin Young era on a high. Mark Pope may have just left for Kentucky, but the Cougars achieved high goals a year ago and earned a 6-seed in the NCAA Tournament, despite it being its first season in the Big XII. Coach Young worked hard to retain several players from last year’s roster and convinced big man, Keba Keita, to transfer over from rival, Utah.
By Rocco Miller
