U.S. college basketball tournament coming to Vancouver in 2017

American college basketball is set to invade the Vancouver Convention Centre annually starting in November of 2017 with the launch of the Vancouver Basketball Showcase, atournamentfeaturing eightwomen's and eight men's Division 1NCAAteams.

"This is likely Vancouver's biggest elite basketball-related news since the NBA announced that the Grizzlies franchise was awarded to Vancouver," said Howard Kelsey, former Canadian team player and co-director of the event.

The exhibition space at the convention centrewill be converted into a 3,000 seat basketball venue during the American Thanksgiving holidayweekend event.

The tournament is the brainchild ofbd Global, an American sports and event management firm, and SportHosting Vancouver.

"Today's announcement is the start of another exciting chapter for playing host to great sports events in Vancouver," said Michelle Collens, manager of Sport Hosting Vancouver.

Vancouver has a strong record hosting international sportingevents like the 2010 Olympics and 2015 FIFAWomen's World Cup.

Organizers of the Vancouver Basketball Showcase could not yet say which U.S. college teams willbe playing in the tournament.