Men’s Basketball | June 03, 2024
Both the USC men’s and women’s basketball teams will celebrate Thanksgiving in conjunction with competition in the Acrisure Series in Palm Springs, as announced today (June 3). The Acrisure Series is the country’s largest multiple team event and will be held at the new, 11,000-seat Acrisure Arena.
“We are excited to have creatively scheduled four full days of high-quality men’s and women’s college basketball at Acrisure Arena,” Co-Tournament Director Dan Shell said. “We are very grateful to our partners at Acrisure and Visit Greater Palm Springs, who made this event possible, and for TNT Sports for jumping into this with us for the years to come to take this event to the next level. We think the Acrisure series of college basketball events will be among the best holiday events in the country.”
Under the direction of head coach Eric Musselman for the first season, the USC men will compete in the second annual Acrisure Classic on Nov. 28 and 29 in a pod that also includes Saint Mary’s, Arizona State and New Mexico.
“USC men’s basketball is excited to play in the second annual Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs,” Musselman said. “We feel we have put together a very competitive team and we look forward to the opportunity for the Trojan fans to join us over Thanksgiving for this event. There is a strong field of teams at this year’s Classic, and we look forward to the challenge as we prepare for USC’s first season in the Big Ten.”
Head coach Lindsay Gottlieb will lead the USC women in action at the Acrisure Holiday Invitational on Nov. 27 and 29 with games against Seton Hall and Saint Louis.
“We are looking forward to playing in an exciting event, the Acrisure Series, at a fabulous new arena in Palm Springs,” Gottlieb said. “This Thanksgiving basketball fest will bring together so many good teams and matchups in one of California’s best travel destinations. We are particularly happy that Trojan fans will get to see their men’s and women’s teams in one location”
Gottlieb’s USC women are coming off a powerful 2023-24 campaign that saw the Women of Troy earn the program’s first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since 1986 and make a historic run to the 2024 NCAA Elite Eight, winning the Pac-12 Tournament championship along the way. Ranked No. 3 in the nation entering the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the Trojans achieved their highest national ranking since standing at No. 3 in the final AP poll of 1986. Grad transfers Kiki Iriafen and Talia Von Oelhoffen join fellow All-Pac-12 honorees Rayah Marshall and JuJu Watkins for a 2024-25 Trojan team that also boasts the top-ranked freshman class in the nation in Rian Forestier, Kayleigh Heckel, Avery Howell, Vivian Iwuchukwu, Brooklyn Shamblin, Kennedy Smith and Laura Williams. The USC women are looking to increase the momentum built in their 29-6 record and Elite Eight run last season, when Gottlieb was named a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year Award and Watkins was selected a Naismith finalist as well as the winner of National Freshman of the Year awards.
A new era of USC men’s basketball began in April when USC hired veteran head coach and proven winner Eric Musselman to lead its program. Musselman has guided his teams into six of the last seven NCAA Tournaments, which included three consecutive Sweet 16 runs. He and his staff have assembled a dynamic and athletic roster with 12 new scholarship athletes, including four players who have already scored 1,000 or more points in their collegiate careers. The Trojans have also added a pair of freshmen who were ranked as consensus Top 50 recruits in the 2024 class. With the compilation of a roster loaded with elite talent and the foray into the competitive Big Ten, it promises to be an interesting and exciting season of USC basketball.
Acrisure Classic
Thursday, Nov. 28
USC men vs. Saint Mary’s — 6 p.m. PT
New Mexico vs. Arizona State — 8:30 p.m. PT
Friday, Nov. 29
Third-place game – 6 p.m. PT
Championship game – 8:30 p.m. PT
Women’s Acrisure Holiday Invitational
Wednesday, Nov. 27
USC women vs. Seton Hall — 3:30 p.m. PT
Friday, Nov. 29
USC women vs. Saint Louis — 3:30 p.m. PT
Tickets go on sale June 7, at 10 a.m. PT and will be available at the Acrisure Arena box office, online at acrisurearena.com and Ticketmaster.com, the official ticketing provider of Acrisure Arena. One ticket is admission for the entire day, and can be used to watch any and all games played in Acrisure Arena on that day.