GEORGE TOWN, GRAND CAYMAN, CAYMAN ISLANDS — Illinois State will open play at the 2022 Cayman Islands Classic on November 21 against the SEC's LSU, announced on Wednesday by Caymax Sports LTD.
The Redbirds open the 2022 tournament on Monday, November 21 against LSU at 10 a.m. CT (11 a.m. ET), with Western Kentucky and Akron facing off at 12:30 p.m. On Tuesday, ISU will match-up with either Western Kentucky or Akron at either 10 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. The final game of the trip, on Wednesday, November 23, will see the Redbirds match-up with one of the four schools from the other end of the bracket: Kansas State, Tulane, Nevada, or Rhode Island.
This season is the second time that Illinois State has competed in the Cayman Islands Classic, as ISU made the trip during the 2018-19 season, going 2-1 with wins over Akron and Boise State.
Illinois State, under first-year head coach Ryan Pedon, returns nine players from last season's team. Leading the returnees is forward Kendall Lewis who played and started in all 33 games a season ago, averaging 9.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He was one of just 28 players in NCAA Division I to have at least 33 assists, 32 blocked shots, and 38 steals during the season. Also back is 6-10 forward Liam McChesney who had eight starts during the season and averaged 4.5 points per game and averaged 8.4 points per game over his final 13 games of the season. Ryan Schmitt is also back after starting five games in his opening Redbird season, as he averaged 3.1 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.
The new head coach also brought in a group of standout transfers for 2022-23 including Colton Sandage (Western Illinois), Darius Burford (Elon), Malachi Poindexter (Virginia), Luke Kasubke (Kansas State), Seneca Knight (BYU), and Joe Petrakis (Western Carolina).
