Lincoln – Nebraska basketball coach Tim Miles announced Thursday that the Huskers have signed an agreement with ESPN to participate in a trio of in-season exempt tournaments over the next three years, beginning in the 2013-14 season.
The three-year agreement begins in November of 2013, when the Huskers will travel to Charleston, S.C., to participate in the Charleston Classic, which takes place from Nov. 21-24 at the TD Arena. The following year, the Huskers will spend the holidays in paradise, as Nebraska will take part in the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu. The tournament is slated for the week of Dec. 20 at the Stan Sheriff Center on the University of Hawaii campus. In 2015, the Huskers will head to California to participate in the Anaheim Classic at the Anaheim Convention Center from Nov. 26 to Nov. 29.
All three events will give the Huskers national exposure, as the games are carried on the ESPN family of networks, as well as providing high-level non-conference opponents prior to the start of Big Ten play. This is in addition to the ACC/Big Ten Challenge which the Huskers annually participate in. Nebraska’s most recent in-season tournament was the 2010 Puerto Rico Tipoff, while Nebraska has not played in Hawaii since the 2006-07 season. The Huskers will host the Joe Cipriano Nebraska Classic this November.
“I’m excited about our agreement with ESPN to play in the Charleston Classic, the Diamond Head Classic and the Anaheim Classic in the coming years,” Miles said. “They will provide excellent competition and exposure for our program. We have been successful in these types of events when I was at Colorado State, winning the Cancun Governor’s Cup in 2010, and hope we can be highly competitive in these tournaments.
“These are also great events because you have three games in three or four days, and you will see contrasting styles. One day, you may face a zone team and then you may see a pressing team. That is good for your team to make those adjustments in a tournament format.”
“This is just one way of Coach Miles working on increasing the brand of Nebraska basketball,” Marc Boehm, Nebraska’s Executive Associate Athletic Director, said. “He didn’t have to schedule us in these tournaments, but he understands the importance of positioning a team for postseason play and also getting the program more exposure on a national level. It also shows the belief that other people have in Coach Miles to turn Nebraska basketball into a winner.”
— Shamus McKnight, Nebraska Sports Information