FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast men's basketball is set for three games in three days when it opens Geico Coconut Hoops against Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 24.

FGCU will play on three consecutive days in what's becoming an annual occurrence for the program. It's the 11th tripleheader in the 19th year of Division I basketball at FGCU, the tenth Thanksgiving-adjacent tripleheader, the seventh in the last nine years and fourth in the last five years. 

Coincidentally, the Nov. 24-25-26 game dates mark the fourth time that FGCU's three consecutive games have fallen on exactly those dates (previously in 2008-09, 2014-15, 2017-18). Further, it's the third time that FGCU has played on a Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday, Nov. 24th-25th-26th. (2008-09, 2014-15). Nov. 24 and Nov. 26 have also been gamedays in two separate tripleheaders, making those dates the most commonly occurring for the Eagles to be in the midst of a three game stretch.

The Eagles are 17-13 overall in games played on three consecutive days; and are 7-3 on day one, 6-4 on day two and 4-6 on day three. FGCU is 10-8 at Alico Arena and 5-4 on Nov. 24-25-26 (3-1 Nov. 24, 2-1 Nov. 25, 2-2 Nov. 26).

The last time out, FGCU stymied Samford in Birmingham en route to a 77-62 win. Rahmir Barno led FGCU with 16 points, Isaiah Malone notched his first double-double with a 12 point, 12 rebound outing, and Jordan Ellerbee added his third double digit game of the season, also scoring 12.

FGCU and Oral Roberts have met twice, in a home-and-home in 2017 & 2018, and are 1-1 against each other. Each team won on the road – ORU won 83-64 on Dec. 16, 2017 in Fort Myers and FGCU won 96-76 on Dec. 5, 2018 in Tulsa. The Golden Eagles sit at 2-4 in 2025-26 and are still in search of their first DI win. They lost to Oklahoma, Tulsa, Belmont & Oklahoma State, and have wins over John Brown & Haskell.

ORU is led by Ty Harper, who scores 15.7 points per game. Yuto Yamanouchi-Williams grabs 6.0 RPG and Jack Turner dishes out 2.8 assists per game. Ofri Naveh averages 2.3 steals per game and Connor Dow records 2.0 blocks per game. Kory Barnett is in his first season as the head coach at ORU.

FGCU and Rice will meet for the first time on Tuesday night. The Owls enter at 2-4, with their lone DI win coming at home over East Texas A&M (prev. Texas A&M Commerce). Rice took Oregon to the wire in Eugene, falling 63-67, and has also dropped games to Tennessee, Stephen F Austin and Tarleton State. A win over College of Biblical Studies is the other Owls' victory.

Nick Anderson leads Rice with 15.2 points per game. Jimmy Oladokun Jr. notches 6.3 rebounds per game, and Trae Broadnax tallies 2.8 assists per game. Dallas Hobbs averages 2.0 steals and George Perkins averages 2.0 blocks per game.
Head coach Rob Lanier is in his second season at Rice (15-23) and his 11th season as a head coach (156-158, also at Siena, Georgia State and SMU).

FGCU has the unique distinction of playing three of the four schools with the "Owl" nickname in the 2025-26 season in Rice, Kennesaw State and FAU. The only "Owls" that FGCU will not play in the 2025-26 regular season is Temple. Interestingly, three Eagles are Philadelphia natives (Barno, Darren Williams and Ellerbee), and Matt McCarthy and head coach Pat Chambers are both from Philadelphia suburbs, and FGCU has more players from Pennsylvania (5) than any other state. 

Zero Eagles are native to Oklahoma or Georgia, though BB Washington claims Houston as his hometown. Not only do the Eagles play three of the four Owl schools, they do it in a 13-day span from Nov. 25 to Dec. 7.

FGCU leads the series with their former ASUN foe Kennesaw State 22-12, bolstered by 15 consecutive wins from 2012-18. The Eagles are 13-5 at Alico Arena, but are just 1-5 in the last six matchups. It's the first time FGCU and Kennesaw State will meet outside of ASUN regular season play, tournament play, or in the month of November, as the Owls left the conference for the FBS ranks after the 2023-24 season.

KSU enters at 3-1, with a pair of dominant wins over non-DI teams in Paine College and Point University, and a comfortable (92-72) road win at Florida A&M. The lone blemish is a 89-108 defeat against South Florida.

Simeon Cottle is the Owls' leading scorer at 17.5 points per game. Trey Simpson and Frankquon Sherman both average 8.0 rebounds per game. RJ Johnson leads Kennesaw with both 4.5 assists and 2.3 steals per game;  Braedan Lue has tallied 1.8 blocks per game. Head coach Antoine Pettway is 37-31 in his third season at Kennesaw State and as a head coach.

About Geico Coconut Hoops
Elite men's and women's college basketball action takes center stage in the City of Palms during Thanksgiving Week when the inaugural Geico Coconut Hoops tips off beginning Monday, Nov. 24 at FGCU's Alico Arena. The event formerly known as the Gulf Coast Showcase was played at Hertz Arena the past 12 seasons. "We have had terrific success in Fort Myers since 2013, highlighted by the very best women's teams, including UConn, South Carolina and Iowa, men's champions like FGCU and Houston, and superstars like A'ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark, but now we have an opportunity to elevate the event even further with our move to Alico Arena," said Brooks Downing, founder and president of bdG Sports, the event organizer. "FGCU owns a terrific venue for basketball, and I want to thank Director of Athletics Colin Hargis for sharing the vision of playing host to what will become one of the best events in the sport."

For the November 2020 event, Alico Arena served as one of the host sites for the women's tournament, given the requirements to create a "bubble environment" to keep both fans and participants safe during the COVID 19 outbreak.
 
"We are excited to partner with bdG Sports and welcome numerous high-caliber programs and their fan bases to Alico Arena," said Hargis. "This tournament presents an exciting opportunity for FGCU and the Southwest Florida community to create memorable experiences for student-athletes and fans from across the country while elevating college basketball."

Tickets for the full Geico Coconut Hoops tournament are on sale now at https://fgcuathletics.evenue.net/events/MCHOOPS or by calling (866) 342-8849.

For more information on FGCU men's basketball, follow @FGCU_MBB on Instagram, X (Twitter) and Facebook, and visit fgcuathletics.com.