July 16, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - Temple will take part in the Charleston Classic, a newly-created eight-team men's basketball tournament by ESPN Regional Television, Inc., (ERT) a subsidiary of ESPN. The Charleston Classic will be played Nov. 14-16 at the brand new Carolina First Center in Charleston, S.C.

The tournament will feature 12 games through three days and will be the first event held at the 5,000-seat Carolina First Center on the campus of the College of Charleston. The Southern Conference, based in Spartanburg, S.C., is the sponsoring conference of the Charleston Classic. More information can be found on the official Web site: www.charlestonclassic.com.

Temple and College of Charleston will be part of the inaugural field along with Clemson, East Tennessee State, Hofstra, TCU, Western Michigan and one more team to be determined.

"We are excited to be a part of this tournament," Temple head coach Fran Dunphy said. "It is a tremendous field and will give our team an early season challenge."

Temple and Clemson played in the NCAA Tournament last season, and four of the eight teams playing in the Charleston Classic won at least 19 games in 2007-08: Clemson (24-10), ETSU (19-13), Temple (21-13) and Western Michigan (20-12).

"Charleston is one of the great destination cities in America," said Dan Shoemaker, vice president, collegiate development. "ESPN Regional Television is proud to showcase the Charleston area and provide another chance for fans to enjoy college basketball with this caliber of a lineup."

Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. The two teams that remain undefeated throughout will face off in a championship match Sunday, Nov. 16, at 6:30 p.m. ET.

ERT expects to release the tournament bracket and ticket information for the Charleston Classic later this summer. Fans can purchase travel packages to the tournament by going to www.AnthonyTravel.com or by calling 1-800-736-6377.