College hoops tourneys may land in LV

Steve Addy

Wednesday, April 25, 2001 | 10:35 a.m.

Paris Las Vegas has set aside dates to host two or three college basketball tournaments in its Grand Ballroom in November and December, and some leading teams are slated to participate.

Promoter Chris Spencer, head of Cincinnati-based Worldwide Basketball, is moving his annual Puerto Rico tournaments to Las Vegas, to be held Nov. 22-24 and Dec. 20-22. A third event is planned for Nov. 19-21.

Worldwide Basketball has hosted the San Juan Shootout and Puerto Rico Holiday Classic for seven years, but is moving them to the U.S. because of NCAA rules changes regarding exempt tournaments.

The Nov. 22-24 tournament will include Illinois, Iowa State, Georgia Tech, Saint Louis, Penn, Hartford, Southern Illinois and Eastern Illinois.

The Dec. 20-22 event will feature Purdue, Cincinnati, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Richmond, Southwest Missouri State, Illinois-Chicago and an eighth Division I team to be determined.

"Those are the dates we've blocked off. Now the ball is in (Spencer's) court," said Andy Maiden, manager of public relations for Paris and Bally's. "Nothing has been finalized. We're working with (Spencer) to hammer out some of the items to make it mutually beneficial."

Paris' Grand Ballroom would be converted into a 3,000-seat arena for the tournaments. Television coverage and sponsorships have yet to be settled.

Purdue public relations director Jim Vruggink said his school has no signed contract for the game, but coach Gene Keady confirmed that the Boilermakers plan to participate.

"This will be a good tournament to see where we stand," Keady told the Lafayette Journal and Courier. "We get to play one game at home, then we go to Vegas for three over Christmas break, and don't miss any school."

In each tournament, the field will be split into two four-team pools. Each team would play its opener on a campus site -- Purdue will host Illinois-Chicago on Dec. 17 -- then two more pool games in Las Vegas on Dec. 20 and 21. The pool champions would face each other Dec. 22, as would the corresponding placers from each pool.

"It's a different scenario. We've never (played in) a tournament like this before," said Keady, whose team was 17-15 last season, including two wins in the NIT.

Purdue's participation is somewhat surprising, considering that Keady had been vocal in his support of the NCAA's quest to ban all wagering on college sports.

The NCAA reportedly is unhappy that the tournaments are being staged within a hotel-casino, a short walk from the sports book and gaming tables, especially because many of the players will be under 21.

UNLV is not a candidate to participate in the tournaments. Part of the NCAA sanctions against the basketball program include a ban from exempt tournaments for next season. The Rebels originally were scheduled to participate in the preseason NIT.