Providence to Host Illinois for Inaugural 2015 Gavitt Tipoff Games

Jon Rothstein is reporting that Providence will host Illinois as part of the inaugural Gavitt Games series announced in May 2014 between the Big East and Big Ten conferences. Its fitting that Providence will be one of the Big East teams participating and hosting a game on Dave Gavitt Court at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

Rothstein’s tweet indicated that the date and time for this game are to be determined. A source told me that the game will happen during the 2015-16 season’s first week. Illinois finished the 2014-15 season with a 19-14 overall record, 9-9 in Big Ten action and a tie for 7th in the conference. The Fighting Illini were a 3 seed in the NIT but lost to 6th seeded Alabama in the first round. Their leading scorer and rebounder returns next season in Rayvonte Rice (16.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and John Groce just got a commitment from coveted 5th year transfer big man Mike Thorne. Groce also has a 4 man class coming in to Champlain next season, including two ESPN Top 100 recruits signed for next season in Jalen Coleman and D.J. Williams. Both players were recruited early on by Cooley and his staff.

Other matchups announced so far:

• Villanova vs. Nebraska
• Creighton at Indiana
• St. John’s vs. Rutgers (MSG)

The games will be televised on the network of the host team so Providence’s game against Illinois will be on Fox Sports 1, while Creighton’s game at Indiana will be on CBS Sports Network.

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Mike Hopkins

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