June 1, 2011

LAS VEGAS – The Las Vegas Invitational released the field for its 2011 tournament on Wednesday, which includes the Gamecock men’s basketball team. UNLV will participate, along with North Carolina, Southern California, Morgan State, Tennessee State, Mississippi Valley State and Cal. State Poly.

The Gamecocks (14-16) return seven letterwinners, including returning starters, redshirt-senior forward Malik Cooke (9.4ppg, 6.4 rpg), junior forward Lakeem Jackson (7.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and sophomore forward Damontre Harris (3.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg), to the court next season.

The University of North Carolina Tar Heels (29-8) return to Las Vegas as the nations #1 ranked team in the 2011-12 preseason. The Tar Heels return all 5 starters from its Elite 8 run in this year’s NCAA tournament including senior forward Tyler Zeller (15.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg), junior forward John Henson (11.7 ppg, 10.1 rpg), and sophomore forward Harrison Barnes (15.7 ppg).

The Runnin’ Rebels of UNLV (24-9) and first-year head coach Dave Rice return 4 starters, including senior forward Chace Stanback (13.0 ppg), the team’s returning leading scorer. Alongside Stanback is the backcourt duo of senior Oscar Bellfield (11.2 ppg) and junior Anthony Marshall (9.7 ppg).

Southern California (19-15) returns two starters with the backcourt duo of senior Jio Fontan (10.5 ppg) and sophomore Maurice Jones (9.9 ppg). USC will also have the services next season of forward Dewayne Dedmon and forward Aaron Fuller, who transferred to USC and practiced with the Trojans last season.

Each team will play four games — the first two at campus sites and the final two rounds at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on November 25th and 26th.

Tickets for the final rounds in Las Vegas can be purchased via the Gamecock Ticket Office (1 800 4SC FANS/GamecocksOnline.com), or by clicking HERE, or by calling the Box Office at the Orleans Arena (702) 284-7777, or on the web at www.orleansarena.com. Tickets are $138, which includes a ticket to all eight games of the tournament.