Strong men’s and women’s fields highlight the 10th anniversary of the Gulf Coast Showcase, which will return to Hertz Arena beginning Monday of Thanksgiving Week. The men’s eight-team field features hometown Florida Gulf Coast University, along with outstanding teams from seven other NCAA Division I conferences. The women’s field boasts five teams that competed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, including Michigan, which advanced to the Elite Eight last season.
In the men’s tournament, FGCU will compete just three miles south of campus. FGCU welcomes Pat Chambers as the Eagles new head coach following successful stints at Penn State and Boston University. There are three first-team preseason all-conference selections in the field, including Marques Warrick of NKU, the preseason player of the year in the Horizon Conference.
The champions of the 2018 Gulf Coast Showcase, Toledo returns to the tournament for this year’s event. Oakland won last year’s tournament with an 81-73 victory against Delaware.
“I truly believe that this 10th year of our tournament takes on a special meaning, given the destruction that Hurricane Ian caused just two months ago to this area,” said Brooks Downing, whose company bdG Sports manages the annual event. “As it continues to rebuild, bringing 16 teams to the area will provide necessary economic impact at a time when tourism has taken a significant setback. We are excited that our teams will be participating in local charity outreach and we are pleased that our partners – both Hertz Arena and the Hyatt Resort Coconut Point – were able to welcome us back with open arms.”
The Gulf Coast Showcase men’s tournament, created specifically for mid-major programs, tips on Monday, Nov. 21 with the following pairings:
- 11 a.m. ET – Toledo vs. Kansas City
- 1:30 p.m. ET – ECU vs. Indiana State
- 5 p.m. ET – Drexel vs. UT Arlington
- 7:30 p.m. ET – Northern Kentucky vs. FGCU
Game times for Tuesday and Wednesday will be the same with semifinal games on Nov. 22 at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday’s championship game will tip at 7:30 p.m.
After a day-off on Thanksgiving, the women’s tournament tips on Friday, Nov. 25 with the following match-ups:
- 11 a.m. ET – Baylor vs. Saint Louis
- 1:30 p.m. ET – Belmont vs. Villanova
- 5 p.m. ET – Michigan vs. Air Force
- 7:30 p.m. ET – Georgia Tech vs. USF
Game times for Saturday and Sunday will be the same as the men’s tournament.
In the women’s field, Michigan, Baylor, Villanova, Belmont and Georgia Tech competed in the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship. Four of the eight head coaches were their respective conference’s Coach of the Year in 2021-22. Baylor also won this event in 2016.
Seven players participating in this year’s tournament were named to their conferences’ preseason first-team. Villanova’s Maddy Siegirst is the Big East Conference Preseason Player of the Year, Destinee Wells of Belmont is the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Player of the Year, while Elena Tsineke of USF is the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
For the eighth consecutive year, the tournament will support the Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. The hospital is the only children’s hospital between Tampa and Miami and provides vital health care for the region’s sick and injured children and their families. The hospital’s facility provides 300,000 square feet of space, 128 pediatric and NICU beds with space to expand to 160 beds, a 17-bay emergency department, a freestanding pediatric pharmacy and in-hospital school classroom.
This year, the Gulf Coast Showcase will make donations to two additional charities based in Southwest Florida, which are helping in hurricane-relief efforts. The Southwest Florida Community Foundation, now known as the Collaboratory, and the Harry Chapin Food Bank will benefit from the matching $5,000 donations from the tournament. For more information on the two charities, please log on to www.Collaboratory.org and www.HarryChapinFoodBank.org.
All games will be broadcast on FloHoops (flohoops.com). A one-month, all-access pass can be purchased for $29.99 and can be canceled at any time following the event.
Ticket and Fan Travel Information
Tickets for the 2022 Gulf Coast Showcase are on sale at HertzArena.com or through Ticketmaster. All-Tournament passes for either the men’s tournament or women’s tournament are available for $74, $99 or $149 per tournament with single session tickets ranging from $10 General Admission to $45 Courtside for each two-game session. Each day of the tournament will feature an afternoon session (starting at 11 a.m.) and evening session (5 p.m.) and tickets will be good for both games of a given session.
Fan travel information, including preferred hotel rates at the official tournament resort hotel – the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point – is available on www.GulfCoastShowcase.com.
About bdG Sports
bdG Sports is a leader in turn-key event management with a primary focus in basketball and professional golf. The firm boasts an event portfolio that has impacted multiple communities throughout North America and the Caribbean while featuring broadcasts to viewers across the globe.
In basketball, bdG is one of the industry leaders in games produced annually. From summer exhibition tours to multiple high-profile in-season tournaments – such as the Continental Tire Main Event at T-Mobile Arena, the Las Vegas Clash at MGM Grand Garden Arena, the Gulf Coast Showcase in Fort Myers, Vegas 4 and three Baha Mar Hoops events in Nassau — bdG will contract nearly 150 regular-season men’s and women’s Division I basketball games. bdG is proud to be the only third-party operator which manages a conference tournament, assisting The Big West Conference Tournament each March in Henderson, Nev. In professional basketball, bdG manages all the home games for the NBA G-League’s Ignite which also plays at that same site.
In professional golf, bdG owns and operates two season-opening Korn Ferry Tour tournaments, The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic and The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic, both $1m purses. bdG manages multiple pro-ams throughout the year at destination golf clubs such as Albany, Shadow Creek, Whistling Straights and Bandon Dunes.