# 2024 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament

The 2024 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) was a postseason single-elimination tournament of NCAA Division I basketball teams. This was the first CIT contested since 2019. The 2020 and 2021 CITs were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the CIT was replaced by The Basketball Classic. Neither The Basketball Classic nor the CIT were contested in 2023. However, CollegeInsider.com announced in early March 2024, that the CIT was to be revived in a 16-team pod-based format for the 2023–24 postseason. Ultimately, only nine teams agreed to play in the 2024 edition.
Four classics were contested during the tournament, each named in honor of a legendary college basketball coach: Hugh Durham, Lou Henson, John McLendon and Jim Phelan. The winner of each classic was awarded a trophy, and a classic most valuable player was named.
Norfolk State won their first-ever CIT title, defeating Purdue Fort Wayne, 75–67, after overcoming an 18-point deficit.

## Participating teams

The teams listed below accepted an invitation to the 2024 CIT.
Note: Team records are before playing in the tournament.
| Team | Conference | Record | Appearance | Last bid |
| Abilene Christian | WAC | 15–17 | 2nd | 2018 |
| Alabama A&M | SWAC | 11–22 | 1st | – |
| Austin Peay | ASUN | 19–15 | 3rd | 2018 |
| Bowling Green | MAC | 20–13 | 3rd | 2015 |
| Norfolk State | MEAC | 22–11 | 5th | 2017 |
| Purdue Fort Wayne | Horizon | 21–12 | 5th | 2018 |
| Tarleton State | WAC | 23–9 | 1st | – |
| Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | Southland | 21–11 | 5th | 2017 |
| Texas Southern | SWAC | 16–16 | 2nd | 2019 |
Although the initial announcement that the tournament would be contested stated that all the teams would be seeded, no seeds were assigned to teams on the published schedule. However, Norfolk State indicated they were the no. 1 seed, and they received a bye to the semifinals and hosted both games in which they played.

## Schedule

| Session | Game | Date | Time* | Matchup | Score | Television | Attendance |
| Lou Henson Classic |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | March 19 | 7:00 pm | Texas Southern at Tarleton State | 71–82 | ESPN+ | 1,426 |
| 1 | 2 | March 19 | 9:00 pm | Abilene Christian vs. Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | 73–63 | ESPN+ | 615 |
| 2 | 3 | March 20 | 7:00 pm | Abilene Christian at Tarleton State | 59–86 | ESPN+ | 1,576 |
| Jim Phelan Classic |||||||||
| 3 | 4 | March 20 | 7:00 pm | Purdue Fort Wayne at Bowling Green | 77–75 | ESPN+ | 1,219 |
| Hugh Durham Classic |||||||||
| 4 | 5 | March 20 | 8:00 pm | Alabama A&M at Austin Peay | 81–71 | ESPN+ | 1,386 |
| John McLendon Classic (CIT Semifinal) |||||||||
| 5 | 6 | March 23 | 4:00 pm | Alabama A&M at Norfolk State | 81–66 | Spartan Showcase | 1,522 |
| Semifinal |||||||||
| 6 | 7 | March 25 | 7:00 pm | Purdue Fort Wayne at Tarleton State | 73–72 | ESPN+ | 1,686 |
| Championship |||||||||
| 7 | 8 | March 27 | 7:00 pm | Purdue Fort Wayne at Norfolk State | 67–75 | Spartan Showcase | 1,576 |
| *Game times in EDT (UTC−4). |||||||||

## Bracket

| First Round March 19 | First Round March 19 | Quarterfinals March 20 | Quarterfinals March 20 | Semifinals March 23–25 | Semifinals March 23–25 | Final March 27 | Final March 27 |
| | | | | Norfolk State | 81 | | |
| | | | | Alabama A&M | 66 | | |
| | | Austin Peay | 71 | | | | |
| | | Alabama A&M | 81 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Norfolk State | 75 |
| | | | | | | Purdue Fort Wayne | 67 |
| Tarleton State | 82 | | | | | | | Purdue Fort Wayne | 67 |
| Texas Southern | 71 | | | | | | |
| Texas Southern | 71 | Tarleton State | 86 | | | | |
| | | Abilene Christian | 59 | | | | |
| Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | 63 | Abilene Christian | 59 | | | | |
| Abilene Christian | 73 | | | | | | |
| Abilene Christian | 73 | | | Tarleton State | 72 | | |
| | | | | Purdue Fort Wayne | 73 | | |
| | | Bowling Green | 75 | | | | |
| | | Purdue Fort Wayne | 77 | | | | |

## Game summaries

    All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

### First round

* ESPN+
* March 19 7:00 p.m.
* Box
Texas Southern 71, Tarleton State 82 :
| Scoring by half: 26–36, 45–46 |||
| Pts: Stroud, Wysinger 18 Rebs: Cisse 8 Asts: Cisse 6 | Pts: Williams 21 Rebs: Gaddy 10 Asts: Moussa 6 |
| Tarleton State advances to CIT quarterfinals |||
* Wisdom Gymnasium Stephenville, Texas Attendance: 1,426 Referees: Robert Bissant, Wes Ford, Randal Anders
* ESPN+
* March 19 9:00 p.m.
* Box
Abilene Christian 73, Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 63 :
| Scoring by half: 36–33, 37–30 |||
| Pts: DeGruy 16 Rebs: Bettiol 10 Asts: Steele 4 | Pts: Roberts 22 Rebs: Dease 10 Asts: Humphrey 4 |
| Abilene Christian advances to CIT quarterfinals |||
* Wisdom Gymnasium Stephenville, Texas Attendance: 615 Referees: Joe Wilbert, Tommy Johnson, Jon Stigliano

### Quarterfinals

* ESPN+
* March 20 7:00 p.m.
* Box
Abilene Christian 59, Tarleton State 86 :
| Scoring by half: 25–37, 34–49 |||
| Pts: Bettiol 14 Rebs: Bettiol 8 Asts: Madden 3 | Pts: Gaddy 16 Rebs: Innocenti 8 Asts: Innocenti 6 |
| Tarleton State wins Lou Henson Classic and advances to CIT semifinals |||
* Wisdom Gymnasium Stephenville, Texas Attendance: 1,576 Referees: Wes Ford, Randal Anders, Tommy Johnson
* ESPN+
* March 20 7:00 p.m.
* Box
Purdue Fort Wayne 77, Bowling Green 75 :
| Scoring by half: 43–31, 34–44 |||
| Pts: Jackson 18 Rebs: Mulder 8 Asts: Bello 5 | Pts: Hill 26 Rebs: Spurgin 8 Asts: Spurgin 5 |
| Purdue Fort Wayne wins Jim Phelan Classic and advances to CIT semifinals |||
* Stroh Center Bowling Green, Ohio Attendance: 1,219 Referees: Tariq Lucas, Scott Siville, Tim Stewart
* ESPN+
* March 20 8:00 p.m.
* Box
Alabama A&M 81, Austin Peay 71 :
| Scoring by half: 42–31, 39–40 |||
| Pts: Moodie 24 Rebs: Tucker 13 Asts: Tucker 4 | Pts: Jones 21 Rebs: Witt 7 Asts: Jones 4 |
| Alabama A&M wins Hugh Durham Classic and advances to CIT semifinals |||
* F&M Bank Arena Clarksville, Tennessee Attendance: 1,386 Referees: James Gibson, Joshua Pitto, Kevin Driver

### Semifinals

* Spartan Showcase (stream)
* March 23 4:00 p.m.
* Box
Alabama A&M 66, Norfolk State 81 :
| Scoring by half: 31–28, 35–53 |||
| Pts: Downey, Riley 15 Rebs: Blackwell 6 Asts: Tucker 6 | Pts: Betrand 16 Rebs: Darden, Fields 8 Asts: Darden 8 |
| Norfolk State wins John McLendon Classic and advances to CIT final |||
* Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall Norfolk, Virginia Attendance: 1,522 Referees: Scott Arbogast, Christopher Bennett, Tony Dawkins
* ESPN+
* March 25 7:00 p.m.
* Box
Purdue Fort Wayne 73, Tarleton State 72 :
| Scoring by half: 36–41, 37–31 |||
| Pts: Bello 21 Rebs: Mulder 15 Asts: Jackson 4 | Pts: Moussa 16 Rebs: Smith 7 Asts: Moussa 4 |
| Purdue Fort Wayne advances to CIT final |||
* Wisdom Gymnasium Stephenville, Texas Attendance: 1,686 Referees: Randal Anders, Jon Stigliano, Tommy Johnson

### Final

* Spartan Showcase (stream)
* March 27 7:00 p.m.
* Box
Purdue Fort Wayne 67, Norfolk State 75 :
| Scoring by half: 41–31, 26–44 |||
| Pts: Roberts 18 Rebs: Roberts 8 Asts: Bello 8 | Pts: Ings 17 Rebs: Fields 7 Asts: Thomas 5 |
| Norfolk State wins CIT championship |||
* Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall Norfolk, Virginia Attendance: 1,576 Referees: Steven Perry Jr., Kendall B. Ridley, Antoine Dawkins

## Awards

The CIT presented the awards shown below.
| Award | Recipient | School |
| CIT MVP | Christian Ings | Norfolk State |
| Lou Henson Classic MVP | KiAndre Gaddy | Tarleton State |
| Jim Phelan Classic MVP | Jalen Jackson | Purdue Fort Wayne |
| Hugh Durham Classic MVP | Chad Moodie | Alabama A&M |
| John McLendon Classic MVP | Daryl Anderson | Norfolk State |