Empire Classic Champions

Empire Classic Champions

Full list of Empire Classic champions, including head coach, by year. The Empire Classic – formerly known as the 2K Sports Classic, Atlantic City Shootout and Coaches vs. Cancer Classic – is an early season Division I men’s college basketball event that has taken place annually since 1995. Outside of 1995, 1996, 2002 and 2003, when it was a showcase, the event takes the format of a bracketed tournament. The semifinals and finals were held at Madison Square Garden in New York City from 1998-2019. Games moved to Uncasville, CT for 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns, then Las Vegas in 2021. The 2022 event was held in Brooklyn before returning to MSG in 2023.

Year Champion Head Coach
1995 No Tournament (Showcase Format)
1996 No Tournament (Showcase Format)
1997 Princeton Bill Carmody
1998 Temple John Chaney
1999 Stanford Mike Montgomery
2000 Kansas Roy Williams
2001 Arizona Lute Olson
2002 No Tournament (Showcase Format)
2003 No Tournament (Showcase Format)
2004 Syracuse Jim Boeheim
2005 Florida Billy Donovan
2006 Maryland Gary Williams
2007 Memphis ** John Calipari **
2008 Duke Mike Krzyzewski
2009 Syracuse (2) Jim Boeheim (2)
2010 Pittsburgh Jamie Dixon
2011 Mississippi State Rick Stansbury
2012 Alabama Anthony Grant
2013 Connecticut Jim Calhoun
2014 Texas Rick Barnes
2015 Duke (2) Mike Krzyzewski (2)
2016 Michigan John Beilein
2017 Providence Ed Cooley
2018 Iowa Fran McCaffery
2019 Duke (3) Mike Krzyzewski (3)
2020 Villanova Jay Wright
2021 No Tournament (Showcase Format)
2022 St. John’s Mike Anderson
2023 Connecticut (2) Dan Hurley
2024

** all Memphis wins this season were later vacated by the NCAA

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