San Juan Capistrano tourney returns in November

The inaugural SoCal Challenge college basketball tournament last November in San Juan Capistrano was successful enough to earn an encore.

The second edition of the tournament will be held Nov. 21 and 23 at the Pavilion at JSerra High.

Minnesota and UNLV will be the headliners, and CSUN and California Baptist will represent Southern California.

Fresno State won the four-team Surf Division last year, while Utah Valley won the Sand Division. This year’s tournament will have a similiar format, with Minnesota, UNLV, CBU and Southern Illinois in the Surf Division, and

CSUN, Central Michigan, High Point and Tennessee State in the Sand Division.

“Teams and fans alike loved the first SoCal Challenge,” said tournament founder and co-executive director Steve Barnes in a news release. “We had a packed venue for both nights and are grateful that we were accepted by the college basketball media as if we’d been around forever, making sure we reached millions of people.”

Minnesota’s coach, Ben Johnson, said he was “excited for our Gophers fans to experience a fun, warm destination that they can travel to and enjoy.” And CBU’s Rick Croy, whose team will have completed its four-year Division I transition period and will be eligible for the NCAA Tournament, welcomed the “opportunity for our fan base to travel and support us in Southern California, combined with the incredible competition and the added exclamation point of playing on television.”

The night games in last year’s tournament were televised by CBS Sports Network. TV plans for this year’s tournament have not been announced.