Conference tournament to stay in LV

Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2000 | 10:09 a.m.

The Mountain West Conference will not consider moving next March's men's basketball tournament out of Las Vegas despite the fact that host UNLV will be unable to participate in the championship.

MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said Tuesday that the conference was moving ahead with plans for a tournament next March at the Thomas & Mack Center that will not include UNLV.

The NCAA on Tuesday handed down sanctions against the UNLV men's basketball program that included declaring the Rebels ineligible for postseason play this season, pending a possible appeal by the university.

"The conference office will continue to work closely with UNLV during this probationary period," Thompson said in a prepared statement. "We will also now move forward, in conjunction with the MWC Joint Council, to coordinate the seven-team men's basketball championship for 2001 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, as necessitated by the NCAA ruling and the application of the Mountain West Conference bylaws."

Bret Gilliland, associate commissioner of the MWC, said the conference bylaws clearly spell out that a member institution that is ruled ineligible for postseason play by the NCAA cannot participate in any conference championship.

"Obviously, there are a lot of details that need to be worked through with respect to a seven-team tournament and we'll get that process started," Gilliland said.

Gilliland said there has been no consideration given to moving the conference tournament despite the fact that attendance for the event likely would be hindered by UNLV's absence.

"If the local host institution is not participating, undoubtedly it's going to have an impact on attendance," Gilliland said. "As far as moving it ... right now we're only three months out."

Gilliland confirmed that the conference has been seeking proposals from other cities about hosting the conference tournament in the future, but added that had nothing to do with Tuesday's ruling by the NCAA.

"Coming out of basketball media day, there was a strong interest among the coaches to move the (tournament) site around and as a result of that, we have been in the process of investigating what other cities, what other venues, might be interested," Gilliland said.

"We have put some (request for proposals) out there and we're in the process of getting those back. But I would say those two things are separate because that process is working its way through and is much more of a long-term type of thing."

The 2000-2001 Mountain West Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments are scheduled for March 7-10 at the Thomas & Mack.