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Paradise Jam Returns to St. Thomas with College Basketball Action

Coming on board this year with a new sponsor, the annual Ezybonds Global Payments U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Tournament is expected to bring more exciting college basketball action to the University of the Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center beginning Nov. 22.

The tournament is being put on by Basketball Travelers Inc, in conjunction with CBS Sports Network and the Global Video. CBS Sports Network will televise the first round of men’s games, along with the semi-final games on Nov. 22 and 24th, respectively, and third place and championship games on Nov. 25th. The Global Video Network will broadcast live stream all games worldwide via ParadiseJam.com with games on CBS Sports Network only available on ParadiseJam.com outside of the United States.

Who’s in the mix this year? The men’s side will feature La Salle, Loyola Marymount, Marist, Maryland, Morgan St., Northern Iowa, Providence and Vanderbilt. Four of the tournament teams earned berths to post season tournaments in March.

One of the heavy favorites, La Salle, is coming off a good run in the postseason after advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament before falling to Wichita State. Maryland and Providence competed in the NIT, and University of Northern Iowa advanced to the Collegeinsider.com Postseason Tournament, according to Paradise Jam information.

The women’s tournament will feature Central Michigan, Duke, Kansas, Memphis, Syracuse, Texas A&M, Texas and Xavier, and will kick off Nov. 28. Last year’s championship women’s game attracted heavy media and fan attention with the return of the University of Connecticut and, this year, Kansas University is poised to bring in just as heavy a crowd.

According to KU’s website, the team brings back two starters from a year ago and is introducing five freshmen ready to "make a difference on the court." While relatively young, the team is leaning on its reputation, which includes 13 NCAA tournaments appearances over the past four decades.

The team ended last year’s season ranked in the top 25, and while starters Angel Goodrich, Monica Engelman and Carolyn Davis graduated (with all three finishing their careers with over 1,000 points and several honors), the Jayhawks plan to rely on their seven returning starters, including Natalie Knight.

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