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Starting a new thread about the news that Bradley will participate in the 2023 SoCal Challenge, a tournament that will give Bradley one home game, then 2 games at the Pavilion at JSerra in San Juan Capistrano, California on November 20 & 22.
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https://watchstadium.com/college-bas...le-05-15-2023/ (Scroll down or do a search for Bradley, CTRL+F, to find this.) SIU was in this tournament last year and played a home game against Tennessee State, that was part of this tournament, so it's possible BU will play a similar game.SOCAL CHALLENGE (San Juan Capistrano, Calif. – Pavilion at Jserra)
Nov. 20-22
Cal, Bradley, Tulane, UTEPMy first BU hoops game was on 12/30/1963. My dad took me to watch the Braves defeat Arizona 67-59. He helped me get Coach Orsborn's autograph before the game. -
San Juan Capistrano, Calif. – Pavilion at Jserra.
Interesting, how can the official athletic site of Jserra Catholic High School (that seats approximately 2000 people) host this tournament?
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It's a private high school, and they likely make a nice bit of money hosting the games. Their calendar shows that the school is closed for that entire week from Nov. 18-26.Originally posted by Jim View PostSan Juan Capistrano, Calif. – Pavilion at Jserra.
Interesting, how can the official athletic site of Jserra Catholic High School (that seats approximately 2000 people) host this tournament?
https://www.jserra.org/about/calenda...ate=2023-11-01
Here is the SoCal Challenge website-
The 2023 SoCal Challenge will be the 3rd year for this Thanksgiving week tournament. As noted, SIU played in it last year. They lost to UNLV in the semifinal game, then beat Cal Baptist in the 3rd place game. Here is more about the tournament-
Note that like other tournaments that Bradley has participated in, there are 2 divisions. Bradley will likely get a home game against a team from the other division (4 teams not known yet), then travel to San Juan Capistrano, where they will play 2 games (Nov. 20 & 22) against the other teams in their division (Cal, Tulane, or UTEP). The schedule and matchups have not been released yet.
The 2 sponsoring hotels are:
The Inn at the Mission San Juan Capistrano, which is in San Juan Capistrano, adjacent to the old Mission San Juan Capistrano, and about a mile or two from the high school.
https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotel...7-a979c79310b0
Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort, which is in Dana Point overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It is about 10-15 minutes away from JSerra High School.
https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotel...7-a979c79310b0
There are also many other hotels up and down the coast for anyone making plans to go.-
https://www.google.com/maps/search/h...er=0&entry=ttuComment
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More about the venue-
The Pavilion at JSerra High School-
The SoCal Challenge website says "All primetime basketball games will be televised nationally", but no details are given.
Last year, the 2022 SoCal Challenge games were streamed on the FloHoops Network
It appears the 2021 SoCal Challenge games were on the CBS Sports Network-
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This tournament is a nice destination for Bradley and for fans. But, here are the 4 teams' NET ranks from this past season-
Team.....NET rank
Bradley....78
Tulane....107
UTEP......182
Cal..........315
Source: https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basket...l-net-rankings
Those NET ranks aren't real impressive, but in this era of the transfer portal, things can change quickly.
Looking at their 2023-24 rosters, all 3 potential opponents will be greatly improved in 2023-24, and the games in the 2023 SoCal Challenge won't be as easy as it seems.
Cal was 3-29 this past season, and last in the PAC-12. But new head coach Mark Madsen landed some nice players from the Portal and they will be much better next season. Cal's recruiting class includes one of the most highly recruited portal players, 5th year grad-transfer Fardaws Aimaq, who lead the country in rebounding in 2020-21. He also landed 5th year grad-transfer Keyonte Kennedy from Memphis, one of the top 3-point shooters in the AAC, Jalen Cone, an 18 ppg scorer from Northern Arizona, guard Mike Meadows, who averaged double digits the last 3 seasons at Portland and is a solid shooter and passer, and 6'6 wing Jaylon Tyson, a former 4-star recruit who averaged 11 ppg and 40% from three last year at Texas Tech.
UTEP was 14-18 and near the bottom in the CUSA with a 7-13 conference record in a rebuilding year for 2nd-year head coach Joe Golding. Most of his top players return for 2023-24, and he has strengthened his team with a couple transfers, including 13 ppg transfer from Buffalo Yazid Powell, and juco All-American Corey Camper, Jr., who averaged 20 ppg and shot over 50% from the field and 36% from three at Tyler CC.
And Tulane had a very good 2022-23 season. They were 20-11 overall, and 12-6 in the American Athletic Association, and finished 3rd behind national powers Houston and Memphis. They only lose one of their top 6 scorers, and return a lot of talent, including-
18.5 ppg scorer from last season Jaylen Forbes (39% from three), a former 4-star Alabama player, returns for his senior season. He is projected to be a possible NBA pick.
14.8 ppg scorer Kevin Cross,6'8", 240 pounds, returns as a 5th year Covid senior. He was also a highly recruited prep player, who played his freshman season for Fred Hoiberg at Nebraska.
Two other starters return- Sion James (9.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg), Tytan Pope (6.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg), and part-time starter Colin Holloway (6.2 ppg), also returns.
Plus, head coach Ron Hunter also picked up some decent transfer portal talent- VMI transfer Asher Woods, who averaged 14.2 ppg as a freshman this past season, Howard transfer Jordan Wood (9 ppg & 37% from three), Michigan Transfer, 6'7" forward Gregg Glenn III, and St. John's guard transfer Kolby King.
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MTEs seem a little hectic this year with teams pulling out and entering others. UTEP for instance is currently double booked in the gulf coast showcase and the socal showcase.
It’s also interesting nothing really official has come out from any of the teams themselves or the organizers of the tournament. Something still must be in penciled in preventing an official releaseComment
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It is now official...
The SoCal Challenge officially announces that Bradley is a participant in the 2023 SoCal Challenge- Surf Division -
https://twitter.com/SoCal_Challenge/...72865977860097
They have also announced the other 3 teams in the Surf Division-
Cal-
https://twitter.com/SoCal_Challenge/...74070917513217
UTEP-
https://twitter.com/SoCal_Challenge/...75316609019905
Tulane-
https://twitter.com/SoCal_Challenge/...76959727616002
The field is set-
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Still no mention about this on the Bradley website: https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball
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They mentioned it here- https://twitter.com/BradleyUMBB/stat...87318395990017
then retweeted their own post as well as the SoCal Challenge's postComment
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