3/11/2022

PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh men’s basketball team will play in the 2022 Legends Classic at the Barclays Center Nov. 16-17 along with Arizona State, Michigan and VCU. Tickets for the 16^th Annual Legends Classic go on sale through SeatGeek.com Monday, March 14 at 10 a.m..

“We are thrilled to bring the Legends Classic back to Barclays Center,” says Gazelle Group president Rick Giles. “The pandemic caused a lot of shuffling of events the last two years but the Legends Classic is back with a field that will bring excitement to Brooklyn.”

Pitt (2008, 2013, 2017) will make its fourth Legends Classic appearance and seek its third title. The Panthers won the crown in 2008 and 2013.

Arizona State will head back to Brooklyn looking to avenge a loss in the 2015 title game.

Michigan (2010, 2014) will compete for the third time in the Legends Classic, looking for its first championship title. The Wolverines advanced to the championship game in 2014.

VCU (2014, 2018) will be playing in its third Legends Classic. The Rams dropped a championship game decision in 2018.

The schedule for the Legends Classic will be announced at a later date.

Pitt(Head Coach: Jeff Capel, Atlantic Coast Conference)
Now in his fourth season at Pitt, Jeff Capel continues to rebuild the talent and depth of the Panthers program…sophomore forward John Hughley has thrived in Capel’s system, leading the Panthers in scoring (14.8 ppg), rebounding (7.9 rpg), and field goal percentage (.471, 154-327)…senior guard Jamarius Burton finished second on the team in scoring at 12.4 ppg as well as assists (75) and steals (27)…sophomore guard Femi Odukale nets 10.8 ppg and paced the Panthers in assists (104) and steals (30)…junior guard Ithiel Horton averaged 9.8 ppg., while shooting 37.9 percent from three-point range … Pitt will be making its fourth Legends Classic appearance, winning the title in 2008 and 2013…the Panthers also played in the 2017 event.

Arizona State(Head Coach: Bobby Hurley, Pac-12 Conference)
Bobby Hurley is in his seventh season as head coach and has raised the profile of the Sun Devils program…he guided ASU to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2018 and 2019 for the first time since 1980 and 1981 and had a pandemic not knocked out the 2020 tournament, the Sun Devils would have made it three in a row for the first time in nearly 60 years…sophomore guard DJ Horne leads ASU in scoring with a 12.6 ppg average…classmate and backcourt mate Jay Heath tallies 10.5 ppg…redshirt junior guard Luther Muhammad puts up 5.2 ppg… under Hurley, ASU won November tournament titles in 2017 and 2018…Arizona State lost in the title game of the 2015 Legends Classic.

Michigan(Head Coach: Juwan Howard, Big Ten Conference)
Juwan Howard is in his third season as the head coach at his alma mater…a year ago, he guided Michigan to a 23-5 record to earn Associated Press National Coach of the Year honors…this year, the Wolverines are poised for another NCAA Tournament berth, which would mark their third straight…Michigan has gone to the Sweet 16 each of his two seasons at the helm…the Wolverines have a talented young nucleus, led by freshman swingman Caleb Houstan, who ranks fourth on the team in scoring at 10.5 ppg…he also averages 4.0 rpg…All-Big Ten Freshman Team member forward Moussa Diabate averages 9.0 points and 5.9 rebounds a contest and has 23 blocks to his credit…sophomore forward Terrence Williams III scores at a 4.6 ppg clip…Michigan played in the 2010 and 2014 Legends Classics, advancing to the final in 2014.

VCU(Head Coach: Mike Rhoades, Atlantic 10 Conference)
Mike Rhoades is in his fifth season as head coach at VCU, returning there in 2017 after serving as an assistant from 2009-14 and as head coach at Rice from 2014-17…since returning to VCU, he has guided the Rams to a pair of NCAA Tournaments, including 2021, and with 21 wins, a probable 2022 bid…VCU gets 11.1 ppg from sophomore guard Adrian Baldwin Jr. who, despite missing the first eight games of the year due to injury, is eighth in the A-10 with 116 assists and third with 60 steals even though he does not yet qualify to be ranked among the leaders due to not playing enough games…freshman guard Jayden Nunn averages 8.3 ppg and junior forward Hason Ward averages 6.4 ppg and 4.9 rpg…known for its Havoc on the floor, VCU is in first in field goal defense (.388) and steals (9.4 spg) and second in the league in scoring defense (60.8 ppg) and blocks (5.0 rpg) and…VCU played in the 2014 and 2018 Legends Classic, advancing to the championship game in 2018.

The 2021 Legends Classic was won by Virginia, a 58-40 decision over Providence at Prudential Center in Newark. The loss was the Friars’ first of the season but would propel them to a streak that saw them win 16 of their next 17 games.

About the Legends Classic
First played in 2007, the Legends Classic has become one of college basketball’s premier early-season tournaments. Featuring four teams from across the nation, the Legends Classic annually attracts the top programs in the sport with an opportunity to win a championship in downtown Brooklyn and the home of the Brooklyn Nets – Barclays Center.

About the Gazelle Group
The Legends Classic is produced by the Gazelle Group of Princeton, N.J. The Gazelle Group is a sports marketing firm, specializing in event production and management, client representation, and sponsorship consulting. In addition to the Legends Classic, Gazelle produces numerous nationally-recognized college basketball events, such as the Empire Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Project, the Gotham Classic, the Sunshine Slam, and the College Basketball Invitational, as well as the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off hockey tournament. For more information on the Gazelle Group, please visit www.gazellegroup.com.

About the Northeast Conference
The Northeast Conference (NEC) is the sponsoring conference of the Legends Classic. Now in its 41st season, the NEC is a NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout seven states. For more information on the NEC, visit the official website at www.northeastconference.org or follow on Twitter @NECsports.

BSE Global
BSE Global is the parent company of Barclays Center, the Brooklyn Nets, its NBA G League team the Long Island Nets, and its NBA 2K League affiliate NetsGC. BSE Global also provides shared services to the New York Liberty, the WNBA sister team of the Brooklyn Nets. Through programming, marketing, sales, and operations, BSE Global delivers dynamic content and experiences for fans and audiences.

COURTESY PITTSBURGH ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS