NCAA tournament darling Loyola Chicago to play in new holiday tournament in Fort Myers

Sister Jean has earned herself a trip to the beach.

The Loyola Chicago men's basketball team, the darling of the NCAA tournament in the spring for its run to the Final Four and its saintly team chaplain, 98-year-old Jean Dolores Schmidt, is one of four teams coming to Fort Myers for yet another holiday basketball tournament in Southwest Florida.

Boston College, Richmond and Wyoming will join Loyola Chicago in the inaugural Fort Myers Tip-Off on Monday, Nov. 19, and Wednesday, Nov. 21, at Suncoast Credit Union Arena at Florida SouthWestern State College.

The four-game tournament, organized by Intersport, joins the larger Gulf Coast Showcase men's and women's college tournament and six-day Culligan City of Palms Classic boys high school tournament already on the holiday itinerary in Lee County.

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Loyola Chicago will play Richmond at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 19 at Suncoast Arena. The $28 million, 3,500-seat facility opened in 2016. Boston College and Wyoming play at 9 p.m.

The losers Monday play Nov. 21, the day before Thanksgiving, at 5 p.m. The winners play at 7:30 p.m. All four games will be televised live on FS1.

Loyola Chicago returns three starters, including reigning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Clayton Custer, from a team that delighted fans nationwide scoring multiple upset wins before losing to Michigan in the Final Four.

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Boston College returns four starters from a team that went 19-16 and made its first postseason appearance since 2011 with an NIT berth.

Richmond returns its top two scorers from a 12-20 squad that was one of the 10 youngest D-I teams in the nation, while Wyoming, a 2015 NCAA tournament team, returns its top scorer from a 20-13 team.

The new event runs opposite some of the men's games in the Gulf Coast Showcase, held Thanksgiving week at Germain Arena in Estero since its launch in 2013.

The Showcase annually hosts eight mid-major men's teams the three days before Thanksgiving and eight elite women's teams the three days after Thanksgiving.

FGCU, Colorado State and Toledo already have been announced for the men's field. Past winners are Louisiana Tech, Green Bay, Weber State, Houston and Towson.

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Past winners of the women's tournament, set for Nov. 23-25 this year, are UConn, Stanford, Baylor, Notre Dame and Middle Tennessee State.

In December, the 46th annual Culligan City of Palms Classic will be held at Suncoast Arena at FSW for the third straight year. The elite national high school boys basketball tournament drew more than 15,000 fans over six days last year, organizers said.

More information on the Fort Myers Tip-Off is at fortmyerstipoff.com.

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