The game first discussed a few months back is now official.
Some of you, like me, probably saw the tweets about Auburn playing Oklahoma in basketball this coming season and thought "didn't we already know that?"
I guess it just slipped my mind that the game was never officially confirmed when those initial reports in April came out. Today, it is 100% official with the news coming from the official site.
BREAKING: Auburn to play Final Four Oklahoma in Hall of Fame's Birthday of Basketball #WDE http://bit.ly/1UPnIuz http://pic.twitter.com/s5cjQdZV6P
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) June 15, 2016
The Sooners were a Final Four team last season, so this definitely fits the bill of what Bruce Pearl wants when he mentions marquee non-conference games. It is part of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Birthday of Basketball celebration. The other two teams playing will be Boston College - whom Auburn will play in New York earlier that month - and Fairfield.
The official site has some great quotes from Bruce Pearl on the game:
“My first reaction to being invited to play was is Auburn Basketball really being invited to play in the Hall of Fame Classic’s “Birthday of Basketball?” asked Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl.
“Really, are our players are going to get a chance to play against a Final Four team from last year? Am I going to get to coach against a Hall of Famer like Lon Kruger? And the answer is yes.”
You have to love his enthusiasm, that's for sure.
The game will be played at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. One Tiger you can be assured will be hyped for that game is Connecticut native Mustapha Heron.
If you're wanting to go to this one, you'll have to hold off a bit on exact travel plans. The official site says "Game times, television details and ticket information for the Birthday of Basketball Classic will be released at a later date."
from College and Magnolia http://bit.ly/1Q5dRlC
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