The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

The Bad Boys Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis is set to return to the Imperial Arena at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island.

The tournament will begin November 18-20 with women’s college basketball teams for the third year. The men’s tournament will follow the ladies from November 22-24 at the same venue.

It will be the 12th time the men’s competition will get underway at the three-day tournament in The Bahamas.

The women’s college teams to be included in the 12 games are the University of Arizona, DePaul University, University of Michigan, Middle Tennessee State University, University of South Dakota, Howard University, University of Memphis and the University of Mississippi.

The latter is particularly important as Bahamian Yolett McPhee-McCuin serves as the head coach of the women’s basketball team.

Sherlander Rolle, director of special events for Atlantis, is excited for the women’s portion of the tournament to get started for the third year, especially with Coach Yo’s Ole Miss Rebels in the fold.

“This is our third year for the women’s tournament. We are extremely excited, the first two years we had a great turnout and support, we will have the Ole Miss Rebels that will be participating in the tournament.

“Their head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin is a Bahamian so we are looking for the full Bahamian support in regards to this tournament,” Rolle said.

Coach Yo led the charge as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division One women’s team upset the top-seeded Stanford University Cardinal and booked their trip to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2007. The team will face off against the Howard University Bison to open the third women’s Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.

The director of events said that not only is women’s sports trending in the right direction, but also sports tourism.

“The women’s sports industry is evolving day by day and, for basketball, we can see that we also would like to ensure that these ladies come down, feel welcomed here on our islands and here at the resort as they play their hearts out and we cheer them on,” she said.

The men’s college teams will consist of the University of Arkansas, University of Memphis, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, University of Northern Iowa, Stanford University, Texas Tech University, and Villanova University.

The early-season college basketball tournament has become a sporting extravaganza since it started 12 years ago in 2011. The event will be streamed on FloHoops live stream for the women’s game and the championship games as well, men’s games will be featured on ESPN to global viewers.

“We can see now that in 2023 sports tourism is huge here in The Bahamas. A few years ago we would not have had that, however we have seen it evolve over the last few years and this tournament is a staple for it,” she said.

“This tournament is largely exposed globally across the world where we are featuring The Bahamas as well as Atlantis which is huge exposure for this country,” she continued.

UCLA won last year’s Battle 4 Atlantis championship hardware for the women’s tournament and the University of Tennessee Volunteers secured the men’s title.

Individuals interested in attending can purchase tickets at https://www.atlantisbahamas.com/b4a