2023 Cancun Challenge Preview

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- Officials with Triple Crown Sports are gearing up for another great Cancun Challenge event. The 2024 Cancun Challenge will see 18 men's and women's programs make the trip to Cancun over Thanksgiving week to the all-inclusive Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya.

The 16th annual Men’s Cancun Challenge, set for Nov. 21-22, 2023 welcomes eight teams to this gated, trusted and all-inclusive resort, where teams play in a converted ballroom that is walking distance from guest rooms. The event features four teams in the Riviera Division (Fresno State, James Madison, New Mexico State and Southern Illinois) and four teams in the Mayan Division (Chicago State, Morgan State, Northern Colorado and Radford).

This marks the second visit to the event for Fresno State and Northern Colorado; it’s the debut appearance for the other programs.

The 18th running of the women’s event will be held Nov. 23-25. For 2023, the four-team Mayan Division will feature Green Bay, Maryland, UMass and Washington State. These squads will play a three-game round robin at the event. In the Riviera Division, six teams will be making the trip and playing two games while in Mexico – Creighton, Georgia Tech, James Madison, Michigan State, Montana State and New Mexico.

The Riviera Division of the men's tournament will be televised on CBS Sports Network, while the Mayan Division, as well as the entire women's tournament, will be streamed live on FloHoops.

Check out a preview of each of the team's making a trip to Cancun below, or view the Digital Program at the top.

Men's Participants

Fresno State (11-20, 6-12 Mountain West) – The Bulldogs look to regain the form they showed two seasons ago when they won 23 games – 6-foot guard Isaiah Hill is back after leading the team in scoring (12.6 ppg) and assists (114). Also returning is 6-11 center Eduardo Andre, who scored 20 points and added 10 rebounds in FSU’s season-ending loss to Colorado State. The Bulldogs turned to the transfer portal for a couple of key additions in 6-4 guard Xavier DuSell (who played three seasons at Wyoming) and 6-10 center Enoch Boakye, a prep star in Canada who suited up for two years at Arizona State. Head coach Justin Hutson played on the 1993 CSU Bakersfield team that went 33-0 in winning the NCAA D-II title.

James Madison (22-11, 12-6 Sun Belt) – Terrence Edwards Jr. is a potent option for the Dukes, averaging 13.3 ppg last year and shooting an impressive 46 percent from 3-point range. He was a preseason first-team honoree for the Sun Belt Conference and JMU was picked as the preseason No. 1 squad. Seven returning players on scholarship suit up with three graduate transfers – 6-9 post TJ Bickerstaff (previously at Drexel and Boston College) is an immediate asset for the front court; ball-handling and scoring gets fortified with guards Michael Green III (Bryant Robert/Robert Morris) and Bryant Randleman (High Point). Forward Justin Amadi (redshirt junior) is out for the year with an injury. Head coach Mark Byington led the Dukes to all-time program highs in scoring and rebounding last year.

New Mexico State (9-15, 2-10 Western Athletic) – The Aggies have turned the page fully from last year’s tumultuous season with a new roster and the debut of head coach Jason Hooten, who won 261 games over 13 seasons at Sam Houston State. Transfers from D-I schools include point guard Rakeim Gary (South Carolina State), a very solid 3-point shooter, along with 7-footer Davion Bradford, who played earlier at Wake Forest and Kansas State. Another punch of scoring for the backcourt is expected from D-II transfer Christian Cook and Jordan Rawls, who played at Western Kentucky and Georgia State. Hooten’s last team at Sam Houston allowed opponents to average just 59.3 points per contest.

Southern Illinois (23-10, 14-6 Missouri Valley) – The Salukis have familiar faces returning, but no one who averaged more than 7.0 ppg last year, so opportunities to flourish are everywhere. One interesting option is sophomore center Scottie Ebube, an athletic 6-10 presence who missed time last year after breaking multiple fingers in scooter accident at the start of the season. Junior forward Troy D’Amico was a bench player last year but looks primed for a larger role, and guard Xavier Johnson had 32 starts last year and shot better than 42 percent from 3-point range. Head coach Bryan Mullins starred at SIU as a guard from 2006-09, closing his time as the program’s all-time leader in assists.

Chicago State (11-20) – The Cougars again have an unusual journey planned as an independent team, with conference realignments still affecting the program’s future. That said, the roster has a mix of experience and upside – leading scorer and 6-foot-6 junior guard Wesley Cardet is back after averaging 16.6 ppg, and he’s got help coming from 6-7 junior Jahsean Corbett, who was good for about 15 points and nine rebounds per contest. Chicago State made noise this offseason by signing twins Matt and Ryan Bewley. Both former 5-star recruits, the brothers are 6-foot-9-forwards who last played prep ball in 2020-21 at West Oaks Academy in Orlando before signing with Overtime Elite, where they have competed the past two seasons.

Morgan State (15-16, 7-7 Mid-Eastern Athletic) – The Bears are coping with the exit of their top two leading scorers, but there’s stability in the backcourt thanks to 5-foot-10 junior guard Kamron Hobbs and 6-6 junior Will Thomas, who both have proven ability from the 3-point line. Reinforcements include 7-foot junior center Christian Oliver, a JUCO transfer from Los Angeles, along with JUCO veteran Xavier Valley, a 6-8 junior. The team bonded this summer during a nine-day trip to Belgium and France; head coach Kevin Broadus is entering his fifth year as head coach; he previously worked on the staffs at Maryland and Georgetown.

Northern Colorado (12-20, 6-12 Big Sky) – The Bears will be remodeling their offense as last year’s top three scorers (totaling nearly 50 ppg) have moved on. Sophomore Marcell McCreary is an interesting newcomer, transferring from Air Force – he earned a Mountain West freshman of the week award in January. Grad student Riley Abercrombie (from Australia) shot 43 percent from 3-point range last year. The two incoming freshmen are 6-2 guard Radek Homer and 6-10 center Egan Shields. Head coach Steve Smiley was associate head coach at UNC for four years and guided the Bears to 80 victories and the 2018 CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament crown.

Radford (21-15, 12-6 Big South) – The Highlanders have the benefit of two seniors who are proven scorers in 6-foot-1 guard DaQuan Smith (13.9 ppg) and 6-5 guard Bryan Antoine (11.4); both topped 40 percent shooting from 3-point range and were outstanding free-throw shooters. Two transfers in early May rounded out the roster as Radford brought aboard Bowling Green grad Chandler Turner (a 6-7 forward with a nose for rebounding) and TJ NeSmith (a 6-9 forward who averaged almost 17 ppg at Lenoir-Rhyne). Head coach Darris Nichols guided Radford to 21 wins despite having just three returning players for 2022-23, his first as head coach with the program.

Women's Participants

Creighton (22-9, 15-5 Big East) – The Bluejays (No. 22 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll) return four seniors to the starting lineup, a group that wants to reclaim the high ground of Creighton’s run to the Elite 8 in 2021. Senior guard Lauren Jensen averaged 16.1 ppg, Morgan Maly chipped in with 14.6 ppg and 6.2 rpg, and Emma Ronsiek averaged 13.2 ppg while shooting better than 38 percent from 3-point range. Maly and Ronsiek both topped 1,000 career points with Creighton late last season. Head coach Jim Flanery has 401 career victories at Creighton as he enters his 22nd year in Omaha. Another NCAA Tournament appearance would mark the first time Creighton has played in the event in three consecutive seasons.

Georgia Tech (13-17, 4-14 ACC) – The Yellow Jackets like the idea of pushing their pace this season, and 5-foot-9 guard Tonie Morgan is the primary engine after averaging 9.8 ppg last year and leading the team in assists as a freshman. She only made eight 3-pointers, however, and the team shot just 28 percent from the arc. Classmate Kara Dunn was slowed by an injury late in the season but is healthy now and ready to contribute. While younger players get more comfortable, Georgia Tech did add grad transfers from Ohio State and Cincinnati. Head coach Nell Fortner also played volleyball in college and was a member of the 1981 NCAA championship squad from Texas.

Green Bay (28-6, 18-2 Horizon) – The Phoenix were the preseason pick to win the Horizon League and do their damage with depth, as 12 players averaged more than 12 minutes per game last season. Opponents were shackled to just 34 percent shooting and 54 points per contest. A roster featuring just one senior and deploying eight juniors includes 6-foot guard/forward Maddy Schreiber, a multi-category force who missed significant time last year with an injury. Guard Bailey Butler was named to the preseason all-Horizon first team. Head coach Kevin Borseth (482 wins in 20 years at Green Bay) started his coaching career running open gyms for inmates at a minimum-security prison.

James Madison (26-8, 13-5 Sun Belt) – The Dukes made the NCAA Tournament last year for the first time since 2015-16 and were the preseason No. 1 choice in the Sun Belt. Expect sophomore guard Peyton McDaniel to claim a starting spot; she shot 38 percent from 3-point range last year and averaged 11.5 ppg. Another anchor in the lineup is 6-foot-4 junior center Kseniia Kozlova (10.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg), a Moscow native who played high school ball in Florida and a year at Middle Tennessee. The Dukes added five transfers, two from Power 5 programs. Sean O’Regan is a JMU grad, was an assistant coach for the Dukes for nine seasons and has been head coach for seven years.

Maryland (28-7, 15-3 Big Ten) – The Terrapins saw two players taken in the first round of the WNBA Draft; reloading looks promising as Maryland (the preseason No. 14 team in the AP poll) has seven returners and a high-profile transfer in Jakia Brown-Turner from North Carolina State. Junior guard Shyanne Sellers stands 6-foot-2 and is a matchup problem in the backcourt; she seems primed for a breakout campaign and will get a lot of time as primary ballhandler. Freshman guard Riley Nelson was the Maryland Gatorade player of the year in 2022 and 2023. Head coach Brenda Frese has guided Maryland to 19 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament and has a .793 winning percentage in her 21 seasons there.

Michigan State (16-14, 7-10 Big Ten) – The Spartans welcome new head coach Robyn Fralick; previous coach Suzy Merchant had to step down after 16 seasons because of health concerns. Fifth-year guard Moira Joiner is the team’s top returning scorer at 10.1 ppg and looks like a reliable 3-point shooter; the backcourt should be ready to roll with the return of senior Gabby Elliott and junior DeeDee Hagemann. Freshman Mary Meng overpowered her foes as a prep senior, averaging 16 points and 17 rebounds per game as a 6-foot-5 center. The incoming freshman class lost a key piece in the coaching change, but one player who stayed is Bree Robinson, who played prep ball in Tennessee but has significant international experience in her native Canada.

Montana State (20-11, 13-5 Big Sky) – The Bobcats have won a Big Sky regular season and/or tournament title in four of the past eight seasons; the roster leans hard on tall guards and defensive pressure – MSU forced about 17 turnovers per game last season. Offensive contributors still need to be sorted out, but the backcourt does have 6-foot-2 senior Katelynn Limardo, who started 31 games last year and shot nearly 39 percent from 3-point range. The preseason roster features six freshmen (including one from Wales) and five sophomores. Head coach Tricia Binford fought through a 3-23 record in her first season back in 2005-06; today she’s got more than 300 career victories with the program.

New Mexico (21-13, 12-6 Mountain West) – The Lobos are shaking it up after losing four starters, with a lot of new and/or inexperienced players vying to fill all the available minutes. There will be a change in offensive strategy, as New Mexico is arguably faster and more athletic, thus less likely to rely on 3-point shooting from every position. Viane Cumber, a 5-foot-10 guard, scored 9.2 ppg last year and hit more than 40 percent of her 3-pointers after starting 15 games. Freshman Paris Lauro averaged 23.6 ppg and 8 rpg her senior year in Dallas, TX. The frontcourt gets a boost from Mississippi State transfer Charlotte Kohl, a native of Germany who stands 6-5 and once reeled in 18 rebounds in a game versus Arkansas.

UMass (27-7, 14-2 Atlantic 10) – The Minutewomen saw head coach Tony Verdi take over the reins at Pittsburgh and promoted longtime assistant Mike Leflar to the top job for 2023-24. The roster has also been through a churn, with as many as six transfers and a group of four freshmen looking to make their mark in a UMass uniform – a nine-day summer trip to Croatia should help with the transition. Center Stefanie Kulesza is the only returner who averaged more than 10 minutes per game; she saw time in 27 games last season.

Washington State (23-11, 9-9 Pac-12) – The Cougars help the Pac-12 flex its depth, with a roster that returns eight players and reached No. 24 in this year’s AP preseason poll. Two all-conference players will command the headlines in guard Charlisse Leger-Walker (17.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg, team leader in assists and steals) and center Bella Murekatete (13.8 ppg, 7 rpg). Programs on the ascent attract attention of accomplished players, and the Cougars will welcome grad transfer Beyonce Bea, who scored nearly 2,000 points in her career at Idaho. Freshman guard Jenna Villa was a top-70 recruit by multiple national sources. Head coach Kamie Ethridge has guided WSU to the NCAA Tournament for three straight seasons, a first-time feat for the program.

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