---
title: "TheLinkU Invitational Brings Outdoor College Basketball"
url: https://www.herecharleston.com/2026/09/28/thelinku-invitational-brings-outdoor-college-basketball/
date: 2026-09-28T04:53:28-04:00
modified: 2026-09-28T04:53:28-04:00
author: "Sherri Kumar"
categories: ["Sports"]
site: "HERE Charleston"
attribution: "HERE Charleston"
---

# TheLinkU Invitational Brings Outdoor College Basketball

*Source: [HERE Charleston](https://www.herecharleston.com/2026/09/28/thelinku-invitational-brings-outdoor-college-basketball/) — September 28, 2026 by Sherri Kumar*

## Outdoor College Basketball Event Set for Charleston

TheLinkU Invitational is bringing outdoor college basketball games to Charleston, with the first college basketball game of the season scheduled to be played on an outdoor tennis court in the Lowcountry. The NCAA’s decision in January to allow schools three preseason games instead of two prompted programs and promoters to explore new event formats.

Charles Howe, COO for Beemok Sports & Entertainment, identified Credit One Stadium on Daniel Island as a suitable venue for such an event. The stadium, owned by Charleston businessman Ben Navarro, features green clay courts, unlike the hard courts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Ohio, where a similar event originated. To prepare the venue, the underground irrigation at Credit One Stadium was turned off a week before the invitational to minimize moisture. A vapor barrier was also installed to protect the court and trap ground moisture, preventing a slick playing surface. Prater’s Flooring, a Georgia-based company specializing in custom portable hardwood basketball courts, provided the court, which took four to six hours to install on Friday.

The tripleheader event, scheduled for September 27, will feature teams from South Carolina, College of Charleston, The Citadel, Vanderbilt, and Virginia. The day will begin at noon with Virginia facing Vanderbilt. College of Charleston will then play The Citadel at 2 p.m. The South Carolina women’s team will conclude the tripleheader by playing College of Charleston at 4 p.m. Notably, The Citadel and College of Charleston are not scheduled to play each other during the regular season this year. Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington has a connection to Charleston, having served as an assistant and interim coach at the College of Charleston.

Organizers took precautions to mitigate risks associated with outdoor play, particularly concerning condensation, which led to the cancellation of the men’s game during the 2012 Carrier Classic on the USS Yorktown in Charleston Harbor. Charles Howe reviewed a decade of weather data and decided to schedule the games in the afternoon. The forecast for the event calls for partly sunny skies with game time temperatures in the upper 70s or low 80s. In the event of poor weather, TD Arena in downtown Charleston, home of the College of Charleston, was designated as an alternate venue. Credit One Stadium has a capacity of 10,000 for a basketball game, while TD Arena seats approximately 5,000. Comedian Nate Bargatze also performed on Saturday night as part of the invitational.

TheLinkU, founded in 2022, is a sports marketing and software-as-a-service platform that manages name, image, and likeness (NIL) and revenue-sharing opportunities for college athletes, athletic departments, brands, and fans.