USD Basketball to Play Games in Hawaii This Coming Season

VERMILLION, S.D. – For the second time in program history, the South Dakota men’s basketball team will play in the state of Hawai’i. The Coyotes are set to compete in the Rainbow Classic hosted by Hawai’i in Honolulu. South Dakota opens the three-game round-robin tournament against Pacific on Nov. 8. After an off day, USD faces host Hawai’i on Nov. 10 and Florida A&M on Nov. 11. The tournament will mark the first meeting against each opponent for South Dakota. Pacific, a member of the West Coast Conference, is under the direction of Damon Stoudamire, the 1996 NBA Rookie of the Year and 13-year veteran of the league. Hawai’i tallied an 18-13 overall record while going 9-7 in Big West action a year ago and Florida A&M, a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, went 12-19 last season while grabbing nine wins in league play. South Dakota last played a pair of games in Hawai’i during the 1996-97 season, facing BYU-Hawai’i and Hawai’i Pacific when USD was still a NCAA Division II school.