| Argus Leader at Sioux Falls
Almost miraculously, the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic is here. And, knock on wood, it’s about to offer Sioux Falls and a national television audience to six days of Division I men’s and women’s basketball at the Sanford Pentagon.
It starts Wednesday, with Memphis and Saint Mary’s kicking off the eight-team men’s event at 1 pm, the first of 12 games in three days with a crowned champion on Friday afternoon. Then the women’s four-team event takes the field on Saturday, with South Dakota challenging South Carolina in the first place of six games in a round robin format that ends on Monday.
There is no denying the fact that male support is a shell of what it was when the Crossover Classic was first announced in October as a replacement for Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.
A tournament that was supposed to feature a handful of large conference teams with dozens of NCAA tournament slots under their belts and to be played in front of a socially distant crowd at the Pentagon saw six of the eight teams originally announced drop out due to COVID-19, while on Tuesday Sanford announced that fans would not be allowed, and all tickets purchased will be refunded.
Ohio State, Texas A&M, Utah, Creighton, Dayton and Wichita State were replaced by South Dakota State, Saint Mary, Northern Iowa, Utah State, Western Kentucky and Virginia Commonwealth. West Virginia and Memphis are the only two teams from the original camp still involved.
Still, although the Crossover Classic has lost some of its school elegance, the new field is not exactly the decline in basketball prowess that may seem at first glance. UNI had 25-6 last year to win the Missouri Valley. Saint Mary’s was 26-8 and was on its way to what would have been its fifth slot in the NCAA tournament this decade, when the pandemic struck, and the Gaelic have won at least 21 games every year since 2007.
The Jackrabbits are an eternal contender for the main midfield who all returns from a regular season conference champion, while Utah State have won 54 games in the past two years under former Coyote coach Craig Smith. VCU has played in a Final Four in the past decade, while Western Kentucky is coming out of its third consecutive season of 20 wins outside Conference USA. So you have a classified West Virginia team and a Memphis team coached by Penny Hardaway who is getting votes for the Top 25.
This is a well-crafted collection of college basketball programs to play in Sioux Falls. And in the women’s field, South Carolina returns to Sioux Falls as the country’s No. 1 team. They were here for the last time when the Premier Center hosted an NCAA women’s regional tournament in 2016, and the most successful Gamecocks were defeated by Syracuse.
Gonzaga’s women reach 21st place in the country, while USD, which finished 11th last year, the highest ever for a Summit League school, is just out of the Top 25 in receiving votes.
All men’s matches will be televised on the ESPN family of networks, and for SDSU men and USD women, the Crossover Classic represents a rare opportunity to play a power conference opponent (in the case of the Coyotes, the No. 1 team in the country) in their home state.
“It’s a great opportunity for our boys,” said SDSU men’s coach Eric Henderson, whose team faces No. 15 West Virginia on Wednesday night on ESPN2. “They are hungry, they are excited and being able to do this on our own soil is very special.”
Here’s a look at the teams arriving at the Pentagon this week:
Men
Memphis Tigers
Record last year: 21-10
Coach: Anfernee Hardaway
Conference: American Athletic
Best players: DJ Jeffries, forward 6 to 7 juniors; Lester Quinones, 6-5 second year guard
Northern Iowa Panthers
Last year registration: 25-6
Coach: Ben Jacobson
Conference: Missouri Valley
Best players: AJ Green, junior guard 6-4; Austin Phyfe, 6 to 9 junior striker
Saint Mary’s Gaels
Last year registration: 26-8
Coach: Randy Bennett
Conference: West Coast
Best players: Tommy Kuhse, junior guard 6-2; Matthias Tass, 6-10 junior striker / center
South Dakota State Jackrabbits
Last year registration: 22-10
Coach: Eric Henderson
Conference: Summit League
Notable players: Doug Wilson, senior striker 6-7; Noah Freidel, 6-4 second year guard
Utah State Aggies
Last year registration: 26-8
Coach: Craig Smith
Conference: Mountain West
Best players: Neemias Queta, 2.13 m junior center; Justin Bean, 6-7 junior striker
Virginia Commonwealth Rams
Last year registration: 18-13
Coach: Mike Rhoades
Conference: Atlantic-10
Notable players: Marcus Santos-Silva, senior striker 6-7; Nah’Shon Hyland, 6-3 second-year guard
West Virginia
Record last year: 21-10
Coach: Bob Huggins
Conference: Big 12
Best players: Oscar Tshiebwe, 6 to 9 sophomore strikers; Derek Culver, junior center 6-10
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
Last year registration: 20-10
Coach: Rick Stansbury
Conference: C-USA
Best players: Charles Bassey, junior center 6-11; Hollingsworth Taveion, 6-2 senior guard
Women
Gonzaga Bulldogs
Last year registration: 28-3
Coach: Lisa Fortier
Conference: West Coast
Best players: Jill Townsend, 5-11 senior guard; Jenn Wirth, 6-3 senior striker
Oklahoma Sooners
Record last year: 12-18
Coach: Sherri Coale
Conference: Big 12
Best players: Taylor Robertson, junior guard 5-7; Madi Williams, 6-foot junior striker
South Carolina Gamecocks
Record last year: 32-1
Coach: Dawn Staley
Conference: SEC
Best players: Aliyah Boston, 6-5 sophomore striker; Zia Cooke, second year guard from 5 to 9
South Dakota Coyotes
Last year registration: 30-2
Coach: Dawn Plitzuweit
Conference: Summit League
Top players: Hannah Sjerven, senior center 6-3; Chloe Lamb, 5-10 senior guard
Schedules
Men
Wednesday
Memphis vs. Saint Mary’s, 1 pm, ESPN2
Northern Iowa v Western Kentucky, 3:30 pm, ESPNU
South Dakota v West Virginia, 6 pm, ESPN2
Utah State vs. Virginia Commonwealth, 8:30 pm, ESPN2
Thursday
Memphis / SM winner vs. UNI / WKU winner, 11am, ESPN
Winner of SDSU / WVU vs. USU / VCU winner, 13:30, ESPN
Memphis / SM loser vs. UNI / WKU loser, 16h, ESPN
Loser of SDSU / WVU vs. USU / VCU loser, 6:30 pm, ESPN2
Friday
Championship, 12:30, ESPN
Fifth place game, 3pm or 5:30 pm, ESPN2 / ESPNU
Seventh place game, 3pm or 5:30 pm, ESPN2 / ESPNU
Third place game, 8pm, ESPN2
Women
Saturday
South Carolina vs. South Dakota, 2:30 pm
Oklahoma vs. Gonzaga, 5 p.m.
Sunday
Oklahoma v South Carolina, 2:30 pm
South Dakota x Gonzaga, 5pm
Monday
South Carolina vs. Gonzaga, 2:30 pm
South Dakota vs. Oklahoma, 5 p.m.