The Jamaica Classic (branded as the Jersey Mike's Jamaica Classic) is an early-season college basketball tournament that takes place in November of each year at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Each year, Jamaica Classic participants play games at campus sites in the United States, some before and some after the Montego Bay games. At Montego Bay, those which host the campus-site games play in the "Montego Bay Division" of the Classic, while those which visit the hosts for campus-site games play separately in the "Rose Hall Division." A separate championship is awarded for each division, and a most valuable player is selected in each division.
Games played at the Montego Bay Convention Centre are televised on the CBS Sports Network.
History
The tournament debuted in 2017 with a 14-team field taking part in campus-site games. Seven of the 14 teams traveled to Montego Bay, where the Montego Bay Division played in a four-team showcase format, with predetermined match-ups scheduled as two doubleheaders. The Rose Hall Division had only three teams, which each played each other once in a three-day round-robin format. This resulted in a tripleheader on the first day at Montego Bay, a lone Rose Hall Division game on the second day, and another tripleheader on the third day.
In 2018, eight teams participated. All traveled to Montego Bay, where each division played in a four-team showcase format, with predetermined match-ups scheduled as two doubleheaders over two days. This resulted in two days of competition with four games on each day (one doubleheader for each division), separated by an off day.
In 2019, ten teams took part in campus-site games, eight of them NCAA Division I teams. The eight Division I teams traveled to Montego Bay, where play took place using the same format as in 2018.
The 2020 edition of the tournament was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to move the first contest date of college basketball for the 2020–2021 season to November 25, 2020. With the pandemic still raging in 2021, the 2021 tournament also was cancelled, and the competition for that year shifted to a new tournament, the Jersey Mike's Classic, in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The Jamaica Classic resumed competition in 2022 and introduced bracketed tournament play for the first time, with separate brackets for each division. As in 2018 and 2019, four games — two from each division — were played on each of two days, resulting in four games on each of the two days with an off-day in between. The 2022 Classic also reduced the number of campus-site games to four.
Champions
SOURCES
Montego Bay Division
2022 — Loyola Marymount
2021 — No tournament
2020 — No tournament
2019 — Utah State
2018 — Loyola Marymount
2017 — Florida State
Rose Hall Division
2022 — Queens
2021 — No tournament
2020 — No tournament
2019 — Eastern Michigan
2018 — Campbell
2017 — Hartford
Most Valuable Players
SOURCESReid, Paula, "Utah State Beat Back Challenge of North Texas at Jamaica Classic," Daily Observer (Jamaica), November 26, 2019.Twitter Jersey Mike's Jamaica Classic Accessed 22 November 2022
Montego Bay Division
2022 — Chance Stephens, Loyola Marymount
2021 — No tournament
2020 — No Tournament
2019 — Justin Bean, Utah State
2018 — James Batemon III, Loyola Marymount
2017 — M. J. Walker, Florida State
Rose Hall Division
2022 — Jay'Den Turner, Queens
2021 — No tournament
2020 — No tournament
2019 — Noah Morgan, Eastern Michigan
2018 — Chris Clemens, Campbell
2017 — J. R. Lynch, Hartford
Tournaments
2022
After a three-year hiatus, the Jamaica Classic resumed play in 2022, featuring a new format. In addition to campus games, the 2022 event included a tournament featuring two brackets, the first time the Jamaica Classic included bracketed tournament play.