McNeese Men’s Basketball Team To Play MTE In U.S. Virgin Islands Next Season

The McNeese Cowboys are headed to the U.S. Virgin Islands for the non-conference MTE this coming basketball season.

It was announced Wednesday that McNeese will play in the 2024 Paradise Jam event in St. Thomas. Cowboys Head Coach Will Wade had previously mentioned that McNeese could play in this year’s Paradise Jam.

Every year in late November, the NCAA college basketball tournament known as the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam is held. The women's tournament usually happens during Thanksgiving week, and the men's tournament usually happens the week before Thanksgiving. It takes place at the University of the Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center in St. Thomas. Men's champion Colorado State is the current winner.

The tournament will take place from Nov. 26-Dec. 1, 2024, and six of the eight teams involved have been revealed. Paradise Jam will also include the UAB Blazers, George Washington Revolutionaries, Illinois State Redbirds, Liberty Flames, and K-State Wildcats.

UAB and McNeese State were the only two teams to participate in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Both teams fell in the first round, McNeese to Gonzaga and UAB to San Diego State.

Times and matchups haven’t been announced yet, and there isn’t currently a publicly announced timeline for revealing the other two participating teams.

The McNeese Cowboys are set to run it back with Head Coach Will Wade after rumors swirled during the massive SEC Coaching Searches over the last few weeks, but Wade will be staying put in Lake Charles. Wade and the Cowboys had a magnificent first season in SWLA as they made it back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in over twenty years.