PRINCETON, N.J. - The Gazelle Group announced today that the San Francisco men's basketball program will compete in the 2024 Sunshine Classic, which will take place on Nov. 25 + 26 at Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla.
 
The field for the event consists of Clemson, Fordham, Penn State and San Francisco playing in the Beach bracket and Radford, Chicago State, Drexel, and Purdue Fort Wayne competing in the Ocean bracket.
 
The format for the Sunshine Slam will consist of a pair of semifinal round games in each bracket on November 25 and a championship and consolation game in each bracket on November 26. Champions will be crowned for both the Beach and Ocean brackets as well as All-Tournament teams being announced for each. Matchups and schedules will be announced at a later date.
 
In 2023, Florida State beat Colorado and UNLV to win their bracket while Stetson took down Milwaukee and Central Michigan to win their bracket.
 
For San Francisco, this appearance will mark the fourth straight season in which the green and gold will participate in an MTE (multi-team event) during Thanksgiving week. In 2021, the Dons were crowned champions of the Las Vegas Invitational in Las Vegas, Nev., which was followed up by being crowned champions of the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City in 2022. Last season, USF finished third at the inaugural Arizona Tip-Off in Glendale, Ariz.
 
Overall, San Francisco finished 23-11 in 2023-24, which included an 11-5 mark in conference play. Notably, USF eclipsed 20+ wins for the seventh straight full season (excluding 2020-21 COVID shortened season) in addition to notching 10+ conference victories for the second time in three seasons. Additionally, third-year head coach Chris Gerlufsen will aim to continue the momentum he has built after guiding the Dons to the semifinal round of the WCC Tournament for the third straight year while also helping San Francisco earn a selection to the 2024 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) this past season.
 
Individually, five Dons earned All-WCC honors in 2023-24: Jonathan Mogbo (Newcomer of the Year, All-WCC First Team), Ryan Beasley (Freshman of the Year, All-WCC Freshman Team), Marcus Williams (All-WCC First Team), Ndewedo Newbury (WCC Honorable Mention) and Malik Thomas (WCC Honorable Mention).
 
Looking ahead, San Francisco will return seven student-athletes from the 2023-24 team in addition to newcomers Tyrone Riley Jr. (Downey, Calif./St Pius X-St. Matthias), James O'Donnell (Sydney, Australia/Centre of Excellence), Carlton Linguard Jr. (San Antonio, Texas/UTSA) and Jason Rivera-Torres (Bronx, NY/Vanderbilt).
 
For updates and more information on the USF men's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsMBB on Twitter, @USFDonsMBB on Instagram and @USFDonsMBB on Facebook.