ANAHEIM, Calif. — ESPN Events has announced the field for the 2022 Paycom Wooden Legacy, and Saint Mary's Men's Basketball will be participating. This marks the fourth time that Saint Mary's has been invited to the annual prestigious tournament.
The 15th annual event will be played during Thanksgiving weekend (dates to be determined) at the Anaheim Convention Center. Owned and operated by ESPN Events, matchups and ticket information for the event will be announced later this summer. For the second year, the four-team, two-day tournament will be played under a different format as compared to the past Paycom Wooden Legacy events where the competition featured a three-day bracket competition during the Thanksgiving week starting in 2007.
Saint Mary's joins West Coast programs in Fresno State and Washington who will make up three-fourths of the field. Vanderbilt will be the final team heading to SoCal around the Thanksgiving holiday. Fresno State (2018) and Washington (2014) have been invited just once prior, but Washington won the 2014-installment 68-65 by beating UTEP in the championship game. Vanderbilt is making the program's first trip to the Wooden.
The Gaels are the only program returning that has been in the tournament more than once, with previous trips in 2017, 2012, and 2008. Patty Mills was named to the All-Tournament team in 2008 as the lone member to do so. SMC is 4-5 all-time in the Wooden Legacy. Saint Mary's will also be the first team in the WCC to play in the Wooden since Pepperdine in 2019.
NOTES
- Fresno State returns to the Paycom Wooden Legacy for the first time in four years. The Bulldogs fell to Miami (Florida) in a 2018 opening round game before defeating Hawai'i and Pacific to win the consolation bracket.
- Saint Mary's competed in the 2008, 2012 and 2017 Paycom Wooden Legacy events and won all three of their games in the 2007, 2008 and 2010 Wooden Classic doubleheaders.
- Vanderbilt advanced to the championship of ESPN Events' 2021 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic before the game with Stanford was canceled due to the pandemic. The Commodores also placed third in the 2010 Puerto Rico Tipoff, including a win over North Carolina.
- Washington won the 2014 Paycom Wooden Legacy by defeating UTEP in the championship game. The Huskies are 1-1 in two appearances in the Wooden Classic (2005 and 2009).
Here are the participation totals for schools competing the Paycom Wooden Legacy with a history of playing in ESPN Events tournaments.
·
Fresno State (1 - Wooden 2018)
·
Saint Mary's (5 - Wooden 2008, 2012, 2017, DiamondHead 2009, 2013)
·
Vanderbilt (4 - ESPN 2012, DiamondHead 2021, NIT Season Tipoff 2017, PR Tipoff 2010)
·
Washington (4 - Wooden 2014 (1st), Diamond Head 2019 (2nd), Armed Forces Classic 2019, Jimmy V 2011)
School Fresno State Saint Mary's Vanderbilt Washington Total
Fresno State Bulldogs 18-20 0-0 3-2
21-22
Saint Mary's 20-18
Gaels 0-3 1-6
21-27
Vanderbilt 0-0 3-0
Commodores 0-0
3-0
Washington 2-3 6-1 0-0
Huskies 8-4
Total 22-21 27-21 0-3 4-8 53 gms
Last meeting
Saint Mary's defeated
Fresno State 68-58 on November 20, 2019 at the Golden1 Center in Fresno.
Saint Mary's defeated
Washington 85-81 on March 19, 2018 in an NIT game in Moraga.
Vanderbilt defeat
Saint Mary's 75-64 on March 18, 2015 in an NIT game in Nashville.
Fresno State defeated
Washington 67-65 on December 7, 1993 in Fresno.
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