Pairings for the 2012 Cancun Challenge have been announced with the tournament set to run from Nov. 13-21, both here in the United States and culminating in Cancun, Mexico.
The three most notable schools taking part are Iowa, DePaul, and Wichita State, with those schools competing alongside Austin Peay, Western Kentucky, Gardner-Webb, Howard, and Western Carolina.
The games get interesting once the tournament moves to Cancun, when DePaul tips off against Wichita State, and Iowa takes on Western Kentucky.
Iowa, coming off an NIT berth this past season, loses leading scorer Matt Gatens, but has a very strong recruiting class coming in to fill the gaps.
Center Adam Woodbury and guard Mike Gesell lead the group, along with Patrick Ingram, Kyle Meyer, and Anthony Clemens.
Both Woodbury and Gesell are Top 100 prospects.
As for DePaul, the Blue Demons come off an injury-plagued 12-19 season, including 3-15 in the Big East.
Swingman Cleveland Melvin will again be the centerpiece after averaging 17.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in 2011-12.
Illinois won the 2011 Cancun Challenge. Additionally, Missouri won in 2010, Kentucky in 2009, and Vanderbilt in 2008.
For the full schedule of games, click here.
Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_
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- colemanmatt - Aug 9, 2012 at 8:55 PM
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You obviously don’t follow college basketball very well….WKU also known as Western Kentucky University
Is not one of your “notable teams” in the tournament?! Finished last year with an incredible Sun Belt and NCAA run, in the
Top 10 all time in wins…I could go on. Go read some history books.
