Duke Basketball: Blue Devils headline Empire Classic next season
The Duke Basketball team will be the headliner for next seasons Empire Classic in New York at Madison Square Garden.
With the 2018-19 season in full throttle with the ACC and NCAA Tournaments coming up, news about next season’s Duke Basketball schedule is being released.
According to multiple reports, the 2019-20 Duke Blue Devils will be coming to New York City in late November to take part in the Empire Classic which benefits the Wounded Warriors Project.
Joining the Blue Devils in the field at Madison Square Garden is the Texas Longhorns, Georgetown Hoyas, and California Golden Bears.
The tournament is set for November 21 and 22, but no bracket has been revealed yet.
Duke, Georgetown, Texas and California headline the 25th annual Empire Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Project (formerly the 2K Classic) which returns to Madison Square Garden this coming November.
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 11, 2019
The Empire Classic was formerly known as the 2K Classic and the Blue Devils last played in the event in the 2015-16 season when then No. 5 Duke defeated VCU in the semifinals before narrowly beating Georgetown in the Championship game.
In those games at Madison Square Garden, Grayson Allen combined for 62 points in the two Duke wins, 30 points against VCU and 32 points against Georgetown en route to being named as Tournament MVP.
While the Blue Devils will almost certainly lose R.J. Barrett, Zion Williamson, Cam Reddish, and possibly Tre Jones to the NBA Draft, head coach Mike Krzyzewski is retooling with yet again one of the best recruiting classes next season.
According to ESPN, the Blue Devils currently have the No. 5 recruiting class in the country with five-star recruits Vernon Carey Jr. and Wendell Moore, along with four-star recruit Rejean ‘Boogie’ Ellis.
The Blue Devils are still also in the mix for ESPN’s No. 10 recruit Matthew Hurt.
Duke also won the event in the 2008-09 season over the Michigan Wolverines when it was then known as the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
Stay tuned to Ball Durham on Twitter, @Ball_Durham, and here at our website, balldurham.com, for all the latest information regarding the 2019-20 Duke Basketball schedule.