FORT MYERS, Fla. (Aug. 23, 2023) – The Palms Division of the Fort Myers Tip-Off was announced today, featuring a round-robin schedule between Appalachian State, Murray State and UNC Wilmington on Nov. 20-22 at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers, Fla. UNC Wilmington will face Murray State on Nov. 20 and Appalachian State on Nov. 21, and Appalachian State will take on Murray State on Nov. 22.

The trio of Palms Division teams joins the previously announced Beach Division field, which includes Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and SMU, under the Fort Myers Tip-Off umbrella. Beach Division games are set for Nov. 20 and 22.

Few programs have sustained the kind of success that Murray State has achieved in recent history. Just in the last 20 years, the Racers have recorded 12 20-win seasons, including seven 25-win campaigns. The Racers are entering their second season in the Missouri Valley under Steve Prohm, who is in his second season back with the program after spending four years with the team from 2011-15.

Speaking of recent success, UNC Wilmington has won 51 games the last two seasons – a 27-win season in 2021-22 and a 24-win campaign a year ago. Fourth-year head coach Takayo Siddle led the program to a CAA regular-season championship in 2022 – its first since 2017 and ninth overall – before posting a third-place league finish last year.

Dustin Kerns enters his fifth season as head coach of Appalachian State, helping the program achieve a .500 or better record in each of his four seasons after the team had finished with a losing record in each of the eight years prior to his arrival. Kerns led the team to the NCAA Tournament in 2021 and finished second in the league in 2022. The Mountaineers finished 9-9 in the Sun Belt in 2023.

In total, Intersport, which manages the Fort Myers Tip-Off, will stage 15 men’s and women’s games over six days as part of the Fort Myers Tip-Off event, beginning Nov. 20 and ending Nov. 25. The Beach and Palms Divisions of the Fort Myers Tip-Off will take place Nov. 20-22 and the Island and Shell Divisions of the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off are set for Nov. 23-25.

The complete Fort Myers Tip-Off and Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off schedule can be found below:

* Game time subject to change

Official fan travel packages for the 2023 Fort Myers Tip-Off are now available for fans from all participating programs looking to spend Thanksgiving Week in sunny Fort Myers with their favorite team. Travel packages include tickets to each Beach or Palms Division game, hotel accommodations and parking at Suncoast Credit Union Arena. For complete travel package information, log on to www.fortmyerstipoff.com/travel.

At this time, the only way to guarantee tickets for the Fort Myers Tip-Off is to purchase an official fan travel package. Division-specific ticket packages, based on availability, will become available on September 20. To receive the latest email alerts regarding tournament news, ticket information and to be eligible for ticket presale beginning September 19, visit our website at www.fortmyerstipoff.com/tickets or www.womensfortmyerstipoff.com/tickets.

The Fort Myers Tip-Off is one of many events that are part of Intersport’s early season college basketball calendar, which has seen considerable growth in the last five years. After initially launching a four-team event in Fort Myers in 2018, the Chicago-based agency has announced plans to host at least six different events throughout the course of the 2023-24 season, beginning with the Radford-Marshall neutral site game at The Greenbrier in West Virginia (Nov. 10) before hosting 25 games during a nine-day stretch from Nov. 17-25. First, the inaugural Arizona Tip-Off will be held Nov. 17-19, followed by the Fort Myers Tip-Off from Nov. 20-22 and the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off from Nov. 23-25. In December, Intersport will manage the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta on Dec. 16 before finally hosting the Ohio State-West Virginia neutral site contest in Cleveland on Dec. 30. Additional event announcements will be forthcoming later this summer.

Fort Myers Tip-Off Palms Division Team Quick Facts
Appalachian State
Conference: Sun Belt
Head Coach: Dustin Kerns
2022-23 record (conference): 16-16 (9-9)
2023 Conference Tournament: Second Round
All-Time NCAA Tournament Appearances: 3
Top Returning Scorer: Donovan Gregory (12.5 ppg)

Murray State
Conference: Missouri Valley
Head Coach: Steve Prohm
2022-23 record (conference): 17-15 (11-9)
2023 Conference Tournament: Quarterfinals
All-Time NCAA Tournament Appearances: 18
Top Returning Scorer: Rob Perry (14.4 ppg)

UNC Wilmington
Conference: CAA
Head Coach: Takayo Siddle
2022-23 record (conference): 24-10 (12-6)
2023 Conference Tournament: Lost in CAA Championship Game
All-Time NCAA Tournament Appearances: 6
Top Returning Scorer: Trazarien White (14.2 ppg)