LSU Basketball is going places.
The Tigers are headed to Puerto Rico in 2019, to New York City in 2020, and to Niceville, Fla. in 2021, according to documents obtained by Tiger Rag. LSU’s 2018-19 non-conference schedule is also filling out, with contests against Incarnate Word, Houston, UL-Monroe, Southeastern, and Memphis already on the docket.
LSU’s 2019-20 squad will play in the 2019 Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan, Puerto Rico, an event that will begin a week before Thanksgiving, with games on Nov. 21, 22 and 24.
The following season, LSU will participate in the Gotham Classic as one of two “host teams.” That means the Tigers will play three home games against teams in the event’s “Travel Pool” before playing a “Showcase Game” in Madison Square Garden on Dec. 19, 2020 (or another “mutually agreed upon date,” the contract states).
In the 2021-22 season, LSU is part of the Emerald Coast Classic field. That event will include two home games for the Tigers, plus two tournament games at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, Fla., on Nov. 26-27, 2021.
Tiger Rag also obtained the contracts for several home non-conference contests in the 2018-19 season. LSU will host Incarnate Word on Dec. 9, 2018, at 1 p.m., travel to Houston on Dec. 12, and host UL-Monroe on Dec. 28. Head coach Will Wade mentioned last week that the Tigers will also host Southeastern at home in 2018-19.
The Memphis matchup, which will be in the PMAC, does not yet have a date, but Wade said it will double as LSU’s fourth game for its “exempt tournament,” which, as previously announced, will be the Tigers’ trip to the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando on Nov. 22, 23, and 25. In addition to LSU and Memphis, the event field will include: Charleston, Florida State, Oklahoma State, UAB, Villanova and a team not yet named.
Wade also said last week he is planning to schedule another neutral site game against a high-level opponent in 2018-19. LSU is “in the process of finalizing that deal,” Wade said. Potential sites could be New York, Las Vegas, Atlantic City, or Miami.
“We’ve got these great neutral teams lined up all over the country,” he said.
LSU will begin a home-and-home with VCU in 2019-20, fulfilling a stipulation in Wade’s contract at VCU. His buyout included such a series with whatever school hired him.
There’s also a chance LSU could play a future neutral site game in Shreveport, Wade said.
“I realize we need to get to the northern part of the state, so I have looked at CenturyLink Center up in Shreveport,” he said. “We’ve looked at playing someone up there. But once again, I’ve got to look for a high-level opponent to play up there. If we’re going to do that, I’ve got to return it to a neutral site closer to the high-level opponent. How many people can we get in Shreveport versus how many people am I going to have to go play against? You have to weigh the pros and cons of that. There’s a lot of factors.”
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