East Carolina University announced that the men’s basketball team will be part of a four-team field that will play in the Fort Myers Tip-Off to kick off the 2025-26 season.
Below is more information from ECU Sports Information.
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Photo credit: Fort Myers Tip-Off (ECU Sports Information photo illustration)
FORT MYERS, Fla. – East Carolina is set to join Michigan State, North Carolina and St. Bonaventure in the Beach Division field for the 2025 Fort Myers Tip-Off, with games set for Nov. 25 and 27 at Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida SouthWestern State College.
The eighth annual Fort Myers Tip-Off will feature a set of four pre-determined matchups as part of its Beach Division schedule. East Carolina will face Michigan State on Nov. 25 while the Pirates and Bonnies will battle on Nov. 27. The game times and television designations for both matchups will be revealed at a later date.
It will be the first all-time meetings against the Spartans and the Bonnies for East Carolina and the first time that the Pirates have faced off with a Big Ten opponent since Rutgers in 2017.
The Pirates, led by fourth-year head coach Michael Schwartz, are coming off a 19-win season, including 10 wins in conference play. The 19 overall victories are the most since 2012-13 and the 10 league wins are the most for the team since becoming a member of the American Athletic Conference and mark the first time since 1974-75 that the program has reached double-digit conference victories. Under Schwartz, East Carolina has won a game in the American Athletic Conference Tournament in each of his three previous seasons after only winning twice in the program’s first eight years in the league.
“We are extremely excited to be a part of this premier event,” Schwartz said. “The Fort Myers Tip-Off has always hosted some of the very best national programs in college basketball and it’s an honor to be a part of that alongside Michigan State, St. Bonaventure and North Carolina.”
Official fan travel packages will start becoming available on June 12 and include tickets to both of a chosen team’s games, hotel accommodations and parking at Suncoast Credit Union Arena. For complete travel package information, log on to www.fortmyerstipoff.com/travel. At this time, the only way to guarantee tickets to the Fort Myers Tip-Off, which sold out last year, is through official fan travel packages, which offer a variety of hotel night options. Ticket packages, if available, will go on sale this fall.
The Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village and the Marriott Sanibel Harbor Resort and Spa will serve as the host hotels for the Beach Division teams of the Fort Myers Tip-Off, allowing fans to stay where the teams stay and experience resort life to the fullest. Additionally, the Luminary Hotel & Co., a boutique hotel located in downtown Fort Myers, and the Pink Shell Resort and Margaritaville Beach Resort, resort destinations located on beautiful Fort Myers Beach, are available lodging options for fans to choose the ideal vacation experience.
The Fort Myers Tip-Off, launched in 2018, has become a staple of the early season college basketball calendar, regularly bringing championship-caliber programs to Southwest Florida on an annual basis. Gonzaga, Kansas, Auburn, 2025 national champion Florida, Ohio State, Marquette, Wisconsin, Virginia and Michigan, among others, have recently participated in the event.
About the Fort Myers Tip-Off
An annual celebration of men’s and women’s college basketball, the Fort Myers Tip-Off welcomes the top programs from around the country for incredible competition to see which teams and their fans will #OwnTheFort during Thanksgiving Week. Contested at Suncoast Credit Union Arena, the home of Florida SouthWestern State College, the Fort Myers Tip-Off has quickly become a staple of the Southwest Florida sports calendar. To receive the latest email alerts regarding tournament news, ticket information and more, visit www.fortmyerstipoff.com or www.womensfortmyerstipoff.com and follow Intersport Basketball on Twitter (X) and Instagram at @IntersportHoops.