Gonzaga basketball team to play in 2015 Armed Forces Classic in Okinawa

Gonzaga will face Pittsburgh in the Armed Forces Classic next November at a U.S. Marine Corps base in Okinawa, Japan, The Spokesman-Review has learned. The game will likely be the season opener for both teams and it’s the centerpiece of ESPN’s tribute to America’s Heroes: A Salute to Our Veterans, honoring veterans and troops serving at home and abroad. Minnesota and Louisville meet Friday in the 2014 Armed Forces Classic from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen in Puerto Rico. The Armed Forces Classic rotates annually to a different branch of the military. The 2016 game will be played at Naval Station Pearl Harbor. Connecticut defeated Michigan State in the inaugural game in 2012 from inside a C-5 transport airplane hangar on Ramstein Air Base in Germany. An official announcement is expected later this week.