NASSAU, The Bahamas – Four of the top teams in NCAA men’s Division I basketball – led by some of the game’s most successful coaches – square off when Baylor, St. John’s, Tennessee, and Virginia compete at the 2024 Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship next November at the Baha Mar Convention, Arts & Entertainment Center. Kentucky-based bdG Sports announced the field Sunday.
Event dates, schedule of games, travel package details and ticket information will be announced later. For all event information, please visit bahamarhoops.com.
“Baha Mar Hoops continue to mature into one of the most competitive tournaments in the sport of college basketball, and next year’s field is further proof,” said Brooks Downing, CEO of bdG Sports. “Headlined by four incredible coaches, including Hall of Famer Rick Pitino, and teams who have won two of the last four national championships, this field will be the best yet.”
In total, the head coaches of the four teams appearing at the fourth-annual event have combined to amass four NCAA championships and more than 2,400 career victories in more than 100 seasons.
Now in his 21st season at Baylor, Scott Drew boasts one of the most remarkable rebuilding efforts in college basketball. The Bears, who have advanced to postseason play each of the last 11 seasons, won the national title in 2021 and rank as the second-winningest program in the Big 12 over the past decade. Listed No. 20 in the Associated Press preseason poll, Baylor was picked to finish fourth by Big 12 coaches before the season.
St. John’s welcomes Pitino as its head coach in 2023-24. Among the nation’s winningest active coaches, Pitino owns a pair of national titles (1996-Kentucky; 2013-Louisville) in his 36 seasons courtside and has brought the buzz back to one of the sport’s winningest and most historic programs. The Red Storm were picked to finish fifth in the Big East, according to a preseason poll of the league’s coaches.
Tennessee’s climb atop the Southeastern Conference in recent years serves as the latest achievement for head coach Rick Barnes, who has posted more than 780 career wins in his 37 seasons in the profession. Picked to win the SEC in 2023-24, the Volunteers lead the league in total wins and total postseason victories while touting a pair of SEC titles over the past six seasons.
Virginia has risen to become one of the top programs in the Atlantic Coast Conference under 15th-year head coach Tony Bennett. The Cavaliers boast a 2019 national championship among their 11 consecutive postseason appearances entering 2023-24 and annually feature one the most stifling defenses in the game.