Empire Classic

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File:20081121 Manny Harris shoots Free Throws at 2K Sports Classic.jpg

A 2K Sports Classic game in 2008

The Empire Classic is an annual college basketball event played in November at the beginning of the season and televised by ESPN. Originally known as the Atlantic City Shootout and produced by the Gazelle Group, Inc., the event was first played in 1995. The following year, it became the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic as a collaboration between the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the American Cancer Society in an effort to raise funds for cancer research. In 2012, the tournament beneficiary became Wounded Warrior Project, resulting in the tournament being renamed the 2K Sports Classic. (A new annual college basketball tournament benefiting cancer research, also called the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and hosted by the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, was held from 2012 to 2014.^[1]) In 2019, the 2K Sports Classic was renamed the 2K Empire Classic Benefiting Wounded Warrior Project, commonly referred to as the "Empire Classic".

History

The first two events were doubleheader showcases held at the Atlantic City Convention Center (now Boardwalk Hall). From 1997 through 2001, the event was played as a tournament. Princeton won the first tournament in 1997, which took place at Continental Airlines Arena in the New Jersey Meadowlands.

In 1998, the event moved to Madison Square Garden in New York City, where it remained through 2019. In both 2002 and 2003, it was played as a showcase doubleheader. In 2004, it became a tournament again, with a new format as a 16-team event with teams from 16 separate conferences. Four predetermined regional round hosts played two games at home and the winners play in the semifinals and finals at Madison Square Garden. Syracuse won the first tournament played in this format, beating Memphis, 77–62, in 2004.

In 2007, Gardner–Webb unexpectedly won at Kentucky, 84–68, and advanced to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden, preventing one of the tournament's marquee teams from playing there. To ensure that the marquee teams would play in the semifinals in the 2008 tournament, the semifinalists were predetermined, regardless of the results of the regional rounds. Beginning in 2009, the format was revised to a 12-team field and each team was guaranteed four games in the tournament, with the semifinalists advancing to Madison Square Garden and the remaining eight teams being split into two subregional tournaments played at predetermined campus sites.

In 2014, the tournament format changed again, with eight teams from eight separate conferences invited to the tournament. Two games were held at four different regional sites selected before the tournament. The semifinals and finals were held at Madison Square Garden and the remaining four teams played in a tournament format at a predetermined on-campus site. This format persisted through 2019.

With the COVID-19 pandemic raging in the United States during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, the Empire Classic was one of the very few multiteam events held during the fall of 2020.^[2] With no fans permitted to attend, it took place behind closed doors at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Only four teams participated. Baylor withdrew from it after head coach Scott Drew tested positive for COVID-19;^[2] Rhode Island replaced Baylor.^[2]

In 2021, the tournament format was dropped, and the Empire Classic took place as a showcase event at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. Four teams participated, and the event consisted of two doubleheaders played over the course of two days,^[3]^[4]

The 2024 Empire Classic will return to a showcase format with Maryland facing Villanova at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.^[5]

Yearly champions, runners-up, and MVPs

Year	Winner	Score	Opponent	Tournament MVP	Other participants	Venue
2024	Showcase Format – No Tournament					Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
2023	UConn	81–71	Texas	Tristen Newton, UConn	Indiana, Louisville	Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
2022	St. John's	76–69	Syracuse	André Curbelo, St. John's	Richmond, Temple	Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
2021	Showcase Format – No Tournament					T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV
2020¹	Villanova	83–74	Arizona State	Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova	Boston College, Rhode Island	Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT
2019	Duke	81–73	Georgetown	Vernon Carey Jr., Duke	Texas, California	Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
2018	Iowa	91–72	Connecticut	Luka Garza, Iowa	Syracuse, Oregon
2017	Providence	90–63	Saint Louis	Kyron Cartwright, Providence	Virginia Tech, Washington
2016	Michigan	76–54	SMU	Zak Irvin, Michigan	Pittsburgh, Marquette
2015	Duke	86–84	Georgetown	Grayson Allen, Duke	Wisconsin, VCU
2014	Texas	71–55	California	Jonathan Holmes, Texas	Syracuse, Iowa
2013	Connecticut	59–58	Indiana	Shabazz Napier, Connecticut	Boston College, Washington
2012	Alabama	77–55	Villanova	Trevor Releford, Alabama	Oregon State, Purdue
2011	Mississippi State	67–57	Arizona	Arnett Moultrie, Mississippi State	St. John's, Texas A&M
2010	Pittsburgh	68–66	Texas	Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh	Illinois, Maryland
2009	Syracuse	87–71	North Carolina	Wesley Johnson, Syracuse	California, Ohio State
2008	Duke	71–56	Michigan	Kyle Singler, Duke	UCLA, Southern Illinois
2007	Memphis	81–70	Connecticut	Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis	Gardner–Webb, Oklahoma
2006	Maryland	62–60	Michigan State	D. J. Strawberry, Maryland	St. John's, Texas
2005	Florida	75–70	Syracuse	Taurean Green, Florida	Texas Tech, Wake Forest
2004	Syracuse	77–62	Memphis	Hakim Warrick, Syracuse	Mississippi State, St. Mary's
2003	Showcase Format – No Tournament
2002	Showcase Format – No Tournament
2001	Arizona	75–71	Florida	Jason Gardner, Arizona	Maryland, Temple
2000	Kansas	82–74	St. John's	Kenny Gregory, Kansas	Kentucky, UCLA
1999	Stanford	72–58	Iowa	Jarron Collins, Stanford	Connecticut, Duke
1998	Temple	59–48	Wake Forest	Lamont Barnes, Temple	Georgetown, Illinois
1997	Princeton	38–36	North Carolina State	Brian Earl, Princeton	Georgia, Texas	Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
1996	Showcase Format – No Tournament					Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ
1995	Showcase Format – No Tournament					Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ

¹Tournament held behind closed doors at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Most Championships

Championships	Teams
3	Duke (2008, 2015, 2019)
2	Syracuse (2004, 2009), UConn (2013, 2023)

Updated through 2023 event.

Most appearances

Appearances	Teams
7	Texas (1997, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2019, 2023), Syracuse (2002, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2014, 2018, 2022)
5	UConn (1999, 2007, 2013, 2018, 2023), St. John's (2000, 2003, 2006, 2011, 2022)
4	Marquette (1995, 2002, 2003, 2016), Temple (1996, 1998, 2001, 2022), Duke (1999, 2008, 2015, 2019), Memphis (2002, 2003, 2004, 2007), California (2004, 2009, 2014, 2019)
3	Georgetown (1998, 2015, 2019), Wake Forest (1998, 2003, 2005), Iowa (1999, 2014, 2018), UCLA (2000, 2008, 2021), Maryland (2001, 2006, 2010), Alabama (2002, 2003, 2012), Villanova (2002, 2012, 2020), Pittsburgh (2003, 2010, 2016), UC-Irvine (2005, 2010, 2013), Alcorn State (2006, 2009, 2014), Prairie View (2008, 2015, 2019)

Updated through 2023 event.