Hawai'i's basketball tourneys in danger
| • | Ferd Lewis: Decision powered by greed |
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
There could be trouble in basketball paradise.
The NCAA Division I Management Council approved a proposal yesterday that could take away the "exempt" certified status usually associated with college basketball tournaments starting Aug. 1, 2002.
In effect, the proposal means that any game played during a college basketball season shall count as one game. Previously, teams that participated in certified tournaments could play as many as three games in that tournament while counting it as only one. That allowed teams to play more than 30 games during the regular season.
Starting with the 2002-03 season, each NCAA Division I team will be limited to 29 games, including all pre-conference tournament games.
The proposal passed by a vote of 27 1/2-21 1/2, and will be forwarded to the NCAA Division I Board of Directors for final consideration at a meeting later this month.
Although the proposal includes tournaments across the nation, Hawai'i's five basketball programs are especially affected, because each plays host to a major pre-conference tournament. Last year, 41 NCAA Division I teams traveled to Hawai'i to participate in certified tournaments.
"It affects us no matter how you look at it," Hawai'i coach Riley Wallace said. "It's gotten really, really tough (to schedule teams for a tournament) the way it is now. It's only going to get tougher."
The Rainbows normally play host to three pre-conference tournaments: the United Airlines Tip-Off Tournament, the Nike Festival and the Rainbow Classic. Wallace said he is taking a "wait and see" approach to the ruling, but also hinted that the Rainbows may have to eventually drop their four-team tournaments to concentrate solely on inviting teams to
