The Barclays Center. Photo by: Stacy Podelski

The Barclays Center continues to be the home for major college basketball, as the sports arena announced on Saturday a multi-year agreement to host the Kentucky and Maryland men’s basketball teams.

The 2013-14 seasons at the Barclays Center will include an exciting match-up when Kentucky takes on Providence on December 1, while Maryland will also be on the BROOKLYN HOOPS™ schedule.

“We are excited to return to Barclays Center next year to play Providence,” said Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari. “This season’s game against Maryland was an NCAA Tournament environment in November. It’s a great building and a great city. We’re looking forward to being back in Brooklyn next season and beyond.”

“We’re looking forward to returning to Barclays Center,” Maryland Head Coach Mark Turgeon said. “We had a great atmosphere up there this year and Barclays Center is a first-class arena. I know our student-athletes and coaches enjoyed the experience in Brooklyn and appreciated the outstanding support our fans provided us in a great opening game. We’ll look to repeat that again.”

“Some of the premier college basketball teams will be calling Barclays Center home for several years and we are delighted to continue to develop into a significant national collegiate sports venue,” said Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark. “There was exciting basketball and a great atmosphere in the inaugural season of BROOKLYN HOOPS™ at Barclays Center.  Next year will be even better.”

The Barclays Center Classic is set to host only some of the best Division 1 schools as St. John’s, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss and Penn State will all be participating in the tournament to be held on Nov. 29 and 30. That tournament will take place at the same time as the inaugural Barclays Center Women’s Invitational tournament, which will feature Rutgers, Texas Tech, Michigan and LSU. BROOKLYN HOOPS™  is presented by Ticketmaster.

“We are pleased to participate in the 2013 Barclays Center Classic. Some of St. John’s most-prolific players and loyal fans throughout our storied history have roots that trace back to the borough of Brooklyn,” said St. John’s Men’s Basketball Coach Steve Lavin. “This event and venue presents a nice way to pay homage to that dimension of our legacy and at the same time challenge ourselves against a competitive tournament field.”

Tickets for the Barclays Center Classic will go on sale on March 22 and the Barclays Center Women’s Invitational will go on sale March 29. Tickets for the Kentucky-Providence game will go on sale April 18. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster by visitng   www.barclayscenter.com orwww.ticketmaster.com, or by calling 800-745-300.