Before college basketball consumes the cities of Anaheim, Maui, and Orlando, the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico hosts the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, which is the first early season college basketball tournament every year.
Since its creation, "Fantastic Freshman" like Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart, NC State's T.J. Warren, and Memphis' Tyreke Evans all played in San Juan during their first collegiate seasons prior to becoming NBA lottery picks. One can guarantee Malik Newman wants to add his name to the list.
Newman, who is arguably the best guard exiting high school and entering college for the upcoming basketball season, chose to attend a very lackluster Mississippi State program (that has not made an NCAA Tournament since 2009) rather than powerhouses Kentucky and Kansas as he wanted to play at his father's (Horatio Webster) alma mater and create his own legacy. The Puerto Rico Tip-Off will present him a chance to begin his road to stardom on the national stage. Yet, the Bulldogs' opening day matchup will not ease Newman into Division I competition as they will face Angel Rodriguez, Sheldon McClellan, and the 2015 NIT Runner Up Miami (FL) Hurricanes.
In addition to the Mississippi State/Miami matchup, the Texas Tech Red Raiders will take on 2016 NBA Draft prospect Jakob Poetlt and 2015 Sweet Sixteen team Utah, scorer (16 points per game last two seasons) Kellen Dunham and Butler will face a Marcus Marshall-less Missouri State Bears, and Minnesota will be pitted against the Temple Owls of the American Athletic Conference.
Like many November tournaments, the Puerto Rico Tip-Off is anyone's to win considering that the two participating teams that did make the NCAA Tournament (Utah & Butler) lost huge pieces of their starting lineups due to graduation this past year (Delon Wright for Utah. Alex Barlow & Kameron Woods for Butler). With that the case, do not miss a moment of the "Suspense in San Juan" because a future star could be born.
Quarterfinal Matchups (November 19)
Mississippi State versus Miami (FL)
Texas Tech versus Utah
Butler versus Missouri State
Minnesota versus Temple
Semi-Final Matchups (November 20)
MSU/MIA versus TTU/UTAH
BUT/MOSU versus MIN/TEM
Championship (November 22)
MSU/MIA/TTU/UTAH versus BUT/MOSU/MIN/TEM
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