Players and Coaches Available to Media during AdvoCare Invitational Shootarounds; Tournament Play Starts on Thanksgiving Day

Filed in: AdvoCare Invitational, College Sports

While most Americans will be preparing Thanksgiving dinner, the men’s basketball teams competing in the 12th annual AdvoCare Invitational will be going through shootarounds on Wednesday, right before tournament play gets underway on Thanksgiving Day at HP Fieldhouse at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort.

The AdvoCare Invitational – one of the premier early season Division I college hoops tournaments – features 2016 NCAA Sweet 16 participant West Virginia, as well as NIT semifinalist UCF. Other participants include Long Beach State, Marist, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon State and St. John’s. Teams competing in the AdvoCare Invitational will hold shootarounds on Wednesday, November 22. Please see schedule below for media availability: 

9:00 – 9:55 a.m.                               Missouri – Closed practice

10:00 – 10:55 a.m.                           St. John’s – Closed practice

11:00 – 11:55 a.m.                           Long Beach State – Open practice

 Noon – 12:55 p.m.                           Oregon State – Practice open for first 10 min.         

1:00 – 1:55 p.m.                               UCF – Players before practice – practice open for first 10 min.

2:00 – 2:55 p.m.                               West Virginia – Closed practice

3:00 – 3:55 p.m.                               Nebraska – Practice open for first 10 min.      

4:00 – 4:55 p.m.                               Marist – Open practice

Games start on Thanksgiving Day, with teams competing once per day, advancing with a victory. The two teams that remain undefeated will face off in the championship game on Sunday, Nov. 26 at 9:30 ET on ESPN2. Tournament play starts at 11:30 a.m. Thursday when the Missouri Tigers take on the Long Beach State 49ers. Other first-round games include St. John’s vs. Oregon State (2 p.m.), UCF vs. Nebraska (6 p.m.) and West Virginia vs. Marist (8:30 p.m.)

Date Time Game Network
Thu, Nov 23 11:30 a.m. Missouri vs. Long Beach State ESPN2
2 p.m. St. John’s vs. Oregon State ESPNU
6 p.m. UCF vs. Nebraska ESPN3
8:30 p.m. West Virginia vs. Marist ESPNEWS
Fri, Nov 24 11 a.m. Semifinal #1 ESPNEWS
1:30 p.m. Consolation #1 ESPN3
5:00 p.m. Semifinal #2 ESPN2
7:30 p.m. Consolation #2 ESPN3
Sun, Nov 26 12 p.m. 3rd Place Game ESPNU
2 p.m. 5th Place Game ESPNU
7 p.m. 7th Place Game ESPN3
9:30 p.m. Championship Game ESPN2

Previous winners of the AdvoCare Invitational include Arkansas (2006), North Carolina State (2007), Gonzaga (2008), Florida State (2009), Notre Dame (2010), Dayton (2011), Gonzaga (2012) Memphis (2013), Kansas (2014), Xavier (2015) and Gonzaga (2016).

Media credentials will be available for pickup prior to the start of each game at the credential tent outside the main gate at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.  To apply for media credentials, visit www.SportsSystems.com/espnevents.

For more information, visit www.espnevents.com/advocare-invitational or www.disneysportsnews.com.