University of Northern Iowa Athletics
UNI to Take Part in 2011 South Padre Island Invitational
6/15/2011 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The South Padre Island Invitational, one of college basketball's elite Thanksgiving tournaments, has put together another stellar field that includes Missouri Valley Conference power the Panthers from the University of Northern Iowa and the Big 12's Iowa State Cyclones. This is the seventh annual South Padre Island Invitational.
The UNI Panthers are coming off a 20-14 season, the school's third-straight 20-win campaign. The Panthers return three starters in senior guard Johnny Moran (9.6 ppg), junior guard Anthony James (12.4 ppg), and junior forward Jake Koch (9.8 ppg). UNI ranked No. 2 in the nation last season in fewest turnovers per game (9.2).
UNI will match up against Rice University and Providence College on Nov. 25 and Nov. 26 in South Padre. UNI will take on both Western Carolina and Northern Colorado in the McLeod Center prior to departing for South Padre. The dates and times of those games will be released when the schedule is finalized.
The Iowa State men's basketball team returns 2 starters from last year's 16-16 team in Scott Christopherson (Sr., 13.7 ppg) and Melvin Ejim (So., 10.3 ppg). The Cyclones could be one of the most intriguing teams in the country with the addition of four highly sought after transfers in sharpshooting guards Chris Allen, a transfer from Michigan State, and Chris Babb, a Penn State transfer that will give Iowa State one of the premier shooting corps in the country.
Rice University (14-18) is positioned to have its break-out season with its four top scorers returning from a year ago. The Owls are led by junior Arsalan Kazemi (15.2 ppg) and Tamir Jackson (13.9 ppg). Also returning for Rice is senior guard Connor Frizzelle (10.7 ppg) and senior forward Lucas Kuipers (7.6 ppg).
The Friars from Providence College are led by head coach Ed Cooley. Cooley, who enters his first season as the Friars' head coach, inherited a team that posted a 15-17 mark last season and returns four starters. Junior point guard Vincent Council (13.7 ppg) is the team's top returning scorer. Sophomore guard Gerard Coleman (10.3 ppg), sophomore forward Kadeem Batts (7.1 ppg) and junior forward Dixon Bilal (5.7 ppg) all started for the Friars last season and are expected to make an impact this season.
The field of eight teams includes Western Carolina University, University of Northern Colorado, Southern University and Florida A&M University. Each team will play four games - the first two at campus sites, and the final two rounds at the South Padre Island Convention Center on beautiful South Padre Island, Texas on Nov. 25-26.
Tournament passes are limited and can be purchased through the participating schools ticket offices or through the South Padre Island Convention Center Box Office (888) 774-8587 or online at www.sopadre.com.
