An NCAA Tournament qualifier, a 21-game winner, an 18-game winner and a member of the Big East Conference highlight the field for the 2008 San Juan Shootout set for Dec. 20-22, 2008. The tournament, in which each team gets three games in a round-robin format, features Oral Roberts University, Wright State University, Murray State University and the University of South Florida. The Shootout kicks off on Sat., Dec. 20 when the Bulls of USF face Murray State at 4 pm. USF, under the direction of second-year head coach Stan Heath won 12 games as a member of the Big East last season. The Bulls return four starters from that squad, including All-Big East honorable mention selection Dominique Jones (17.1 ppg). The Racers of Murray State posted an 18-13 record last season with 13 wins coming in the Ohio Valley Conference. Head coach Billy Kennedy returns four starters from the last season with guards Danero Thomas (12.3 ppg) and Tyler Holloway (10.6 ppg) leading the way. USF will be making its second San Juan Shootout appearance (1997) while Murray State won the 1990 title in its only trip to the island.
The second game of the first day is set to begin at 6:30 pm when Oral Roberts squares off against Wright State. The Golden Eagles of ORU advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season in 2007-08 en route to a 24-win campaign. 10th year head coach Scott Sutton’s troops won 16 games in the Summit League and will feature leading scorer Robert Jarvis (16.1 ppg, 85 made 3-pointers) along with returning starter Marcus Lewis. Horizon League member Wright State went 21-10 last season, its second 20+ win season in a row. Head coach Brad Brownell returns four starters from a year ago including first team all-league member Vaughn Duggins (13.8 ppg) and junior guard Todd Brown (12.7 ppg). Oral Roberts will be participating in the Shootout for the third time (1997 and 2001) while Wright State will be returning for the first time since 1993.
Murray State and ORU kick off the second day of play at 4 pm on Sun., Dec. 21 with the Wright State-USF game to follow at 6:30 pm. The tournament concludes with the final two contests on Mon., Dec. 22 as Wright State and Murray State play at 4 pm while USF and Oral Roberts play in the finale at 6:30 pm. All tournament games are played at the Mario Morales Coliseum. For more information contact Sport Tours International at 414-228-7337 or info@sporttours.net.