We have seen some great in-season tournaments in the past (Battle 4 Atlantis, Maui Invitational, etc.), but the Players Era Festival has simply taken things to another level. Last year’s debut featured 8 teams, but this year there is an 18-team field featuring some of the best teams from the best conferences in the country. It is taking place this week in Las Vegas, and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is covering all the angles so you can look forward to an abundance of access in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage from Sin City with a recap of last night’s action from the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
As I was walking over to the other arena for the evening session, I noticed that the line to get into the Auburn-Oregon game was a LONG 1:
1 of the perks of leaving Michelob Ultra Arena to head over to the MGM Grand Garden Arena was that I got to see the TNT studio crew (Jalen Rose/Adam Lefkoe/Jamal Mashburn/Bruce Pearl):
…and for some reason (his alma mater was playing in the other arena tonight)), Chris Webber!
I missed the exciting Syracuse-Houston game (as well as a chance to meet Carmelo Anthony after he finished an interview with someone else and walked away to meet up with his son Kiyan), but hustled downstairs to join Coach Kelvin Sampson’s postgame press conference in progress. I did not get to ask him about Chris Cenac’s all-around ability (12 REB tonight and 5-6 3PM combined over the past 3 games), but he did tell another media member to not get too excited about his freshman because they are always up and down. For example, he praised Kingston Flemings’ effort vs. Auburn last week…but said that tonight he belonged in the witness protection program!
I got to see the tip-off of Gonzaga-Alabama…but not much else since I had multiple interviews to conduct.
These 2 schools had never faced each other prior to 2020, but thanks to the belief of Coaches Nates Oats/Mark Few in having non-conference schedules that are among the hardest in the nation, they are now playing their 3rd game since 2021 (all at neutral sites):
That is a wrap from last night but check back all week long for all access at the Players Era Festival!
