Georgetown, Indiana, UCLA & Georgia to Play in Championship Rounds of the Legends Classic at Barclays Center in Brooklyn

BROOKLYN, NY/PRINCETON, N.J. - Georgetown, Indiana, UCLA, and Georgia will compete in the 2012 Legends Classic, which culminates with the Championship Rounds at Brooklyn’s brand new Barclays Center, Nov. 19-20. Championship Round tickets will go on sale in the near future.

The format for the 2012 Legends Classic, which has fast become one of the nation’s premier early-season college basketball tournaments, features 12 teams from across the nation competing in the fifth annual event with Georgetown, Indiana, UCLA, and Georgia hosting regional round games from Nov. 11-15. The four hosts will then advance to the Championship Rounds on Nov. 19-20 at Barclays Center, located in the heart of Brooklyn, while the remainder of the field will participate in subregionals held at campus sites.

Match-ups for the Championship Rounds, television details, and the entire bracket for the 2012 Legends Classic will be announced at a later date.

The four schools advancing to Barclays Center have combined for 117 trips to the NCAA Tournament.

Georgetown – Has been to 27 NCAA Tournaments, winning one National Championship…has been ranked each of the last 14 weeks, placing 14th in this week’s ESPN/USA Today poll and 13th in this week’s Associated Press poll…expected to return 11 players from this year’s team, including three starters – Hollis Thompson, Markel Starks, and Nate Lubick…the Hoyas have won 20 or more games six of the last seven years under head coach John Thompson III.

Indiana – Has won five National Championships and has been to 35 NCAA Tournaments…head coach Tom Crean is in his fourth year of rebuilding which has resulted in the first 20-win season since 2008…has been ranked each of the last 13 weeks, this week at 15th in both polls…expected to return 12 players next year, including four starters and the top five scorers from this season, highlighted by Cody Zeller, Christian Watford, and Jordan Hulls.

UCLA – Has won 11 National Championships and made 18 Final Four appearances in 44 trips to the NCAA Tournament, including a berth in the 2011 NCAAs…12 players, including three starters, are expected to return next season, led by brothers David and Travis Wear, and Joshua Smith…the Bruins will also welcome top-ranked local recruit Kyle Anderson of St. Anthony High School (Jersey City, N.J.)…head coach Ben Howland has won 206 games in his nine years at the UCLA helm.

Georgia – The Bulldogs went to their first NCAA Tournament since 2008 a year ago…this year, 11 underclassmen dot the roster, including seven of the team’s top nine scorers…those 11 will be led into next season by freshmen Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Nemanja Djurisic, as well as sophomore Donte’ Williams…head coach Mark Fox is in his third year at Georgia and has led his teams to six 20-win seasons in his seven previous years as a head coach.

In the first four years of its existence, the Legends Classic has featured six teams that went on to advance to at least the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Additionally, Texas (2008) and Pittsburgh (2009) advanced to the Elite Eight and Michigan State (2010) played in the Final Four.

At this season’s Legends Classic, then No. 18 Vanderbilt captured a 64-62 win over Oregon State behind the 14-point effort of tournament MVP John Jenkins.

The Legends Classic is produced by the Gazelle Group of Princeton, N.J. The Gazelle Group is a sports marketing firm, specializing in event production and management, client representation, and sponsorship consulting. Gazelle produces numerous nationally-recognized events, such as the 2K Sports Classic, the Gotham Classic, the CBI presented by Zebra Pen, and the All-American Championship. The Gazelle Group is a member of USA Basketball. For more information on the Gazelle Group, please visit gazellegroup.com.

The Northeast Conference (NEC) is the sponsoring conference of the Legends Classic. Entering its 31st season, the NEC is a NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 12 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. For more information on the NEC, visit www.northeastconference.org.

NETS All Access ticket buyers have the opportunity to purchase tickets for the Legends Classic before the general public. For more information please visit www.barclayscenter.com.