Alabama basketball is once again set to take part in a major early-season tournament this year. The team confirmed Thursday that it will be taking part in the ESPN Events Invitational, which will be held Thursday, Nov. 25 through Sunday, Nov. 28 at HP Field House at ESPN Wide World of Sports near Orlando, Fla. The eight-team competition will be made up of Alabama, Belmont, Dayton, Drake, Iona, Kansas and Miami.
"We are excited for the opportunity to play in the ESPN Events Invitational next season," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said in a release. "From top to bottom, this is a loaded field and will have some great opportunities early in the season to face some high-quality competition. It will give us a chance to find out early what areas we need to grow while providing some great entertainment for fans. Our fans are terrific and were tremendous in showing their support as much as they could this past season. We would love to have our fans come in-person to support us and enjoy some great basketball over Thanksgiving week. It should be a lot of fun."
Previously known as the Orlando Invitational, the competition is in its 14th year of existence. This year will mark Alabama's second time competing in the event as the Crimson Tide went 2-1 in the tournament in 2015.
This year’s ESPN Events Invitational features five teams that advanced to last season’s NCAA Tournament in Alabama, Drake, Iona, North Texas and Kansas. It could also see a rematch between Alabama and Iona after the Tide beat the Gaels 68-55 in its first game of the NCAA Tournament last season.
Last season, Alabama took part in the Maui Invitational, which was relocated to Asheville, N.C. due to COVID-19. The Tide went 2-1 in the tournament, losing to Stanford before beating UNLV and Providence.
Outside of the competition in Orlando, Alabama is scheduled to host Houston in Tuscaloosa, Ala. this season. Head coach Nate Oats spoke about his team’s upcoming schedule last month, stating that he wanted to find a nice balance of competition without creating too daunting of a task ahead of what figures to be a challenging SEC slate.
“I think you’ve guys have gotten to know me well enough that we’re gonna schedule really good teams,” Oats said. “Houston’s pretty good. I’m not trying to schedule too many top-10 teams to come in here. Houston will be in here. We’re still trying to work on the Birmingham deal, what’s gonna happen there. We typically play up there and some other ones. We’ve got some work to do on the schedule, it’s nowhere close to being done. Adam [Bauman’s] been working hard on it. I was a little more tied up with some of this recruiting. Now that that’s over, we can turn our attention a little bit more to scheduling. Maybe have a better update on that in a month or so.”
"We are excited for the opportunity to play in the ESPN Events Invitational next season," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said in a release. "From top to bottom, this is a loaded field and will have some great opportunities early in the season to face some high-quality competition. It will give us a chance to find out early what areas we need to grow while providing some great entertainment for fans. Our fans are terrific and were tremendous in showing their support as much as they could this past season. We would love to have our fans come in-person to support us and enjoy some great basketball over Thanksgiving week. It should be a lot of fun."
Previously known as the Orlando Invitational, the competition is in its 14th year of existence. This year will mark Alabama's second time competing in the event as the Crimson Tide went 2-1 in the tournament in 2015.
This year’s ESPN Events Invitational features five teams that advanced to last season’s NCAA Tournament in Alabama, Drake, Iona, North Texas and Kansas. It could also see a rematch between Alabama and Iona after the Tide beat the Gaels 68-55 in its first game of the NCAA Tournament last season.
Last season, Alabama took part in the Maui Invitational, which was relocated to Asheville, N.C. due to COVID-19. The Tide went 2-1 in the tournament, losing to Stanford before beating UNLV and Providence.
Outside of the competition in Orlando, Alabama is scheduled to host Houston in Tuscaloosa, Ala. this season. Head coach Nate Oats spoke about his team’s upcoming schedule last month, stating that he wanted to find a nice balance of competition without creating too daunting of a task ahead of what figures to be a challenging SEC slate.
“I think you’ve guys have gotten to know me well enough that we’re gonna schedule really good teams,” Oats said. “Houston’s pretty good. I’m not trying to schedule too many top-10 teams to come in here. Houston will be in here. We’re still trying to work on the Birmingham deal, what’s gonna happen there. We typically play up there and some other ones. We’ve got some work to do on the schedule, it’s nowhere close to being done. Adam [Bauman’s] been working hard on it. I was a little more tied up with some of this recruiting. Now that that’s over, we can turn our attention a little bit more to scheduling. Maybe have a better update on that in a month or so.”
Last edited:
