Prep title game coming to LV

Spencer Patterson

Friday, Feb. 22, 2002 | 10:24 a.m.

RENO -- Nevada's large-school high school football championship will return to Sam Boyd Stadium next season, and discussions are under way about the possiblility of bringing the state basketball tournament to the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion, Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association Director Jerry Hughes said Thursday.

According to Hughes, Sam Boyd and UNLV officials have already agreed to host the 4A state football title game on Dec. 7, the first time the game will be played there since 1999.

"They've agreed to that for next season" Hughes said, adding that the game will likely kick off at noon.

Hughes said he was also contacted last year by former Thomas & Mack facilities director Pat Christenson about bringing the 1A-4A boys and girls basketball event back to Southern Nevada for the first time since 1988.

Christenson has since resigned from that position, but Hughes said Joe Santiago, associate director of booking and marketking for the Thomas & Mack, sent a letter to the NIAA last week offering to hold the event at the T&M and adjacent Cox Pavilion on an alternating annual basis, possibily beginning next year. Nevada-Reno's Lawlor Events Center has hosted the event since 1989.

"We'd like to bring the event back to the south every other year if possible," Hughes said. "And the nice thing about the T&M and Cox is we could have the tournament as it is now, but without morning games. Fans could also walk back and forth between the two arenas and not miss any games."

Still, one significant obstacle remains before the NIAA can begin scheduling its basketball tournament for Las Vegas. UNLV, which plays its home men's games at the Thomas & Mack, has not yet agreed to block out a four-day period in next year's schedule for the event.

Hughes said he has not discussed the situation with UNLV officials directly, but plans to soon.

"I told them before we make a committment, we need a guarantee that they wouldn't hold any games during that week," Hughes said.

According to Jerry Koloskie, UNLV's senior associate athletic director, the Rebels are already prevented from scheduling home games each season during the 10-day National Finals Rodeo and nine-day Disney on Ice event, making another blocked-out portion of their season potentially problematic.

"Obviously, we would like to work with the high school association any way we can, and it's nice for the local high school kids to have the tournament in Vegas every other year," Koloskie said. "We'd definitely have to look at it from a scheduling standpoint. We have some other scheduling conflicts that put a strain on our conference schedule.

"But this is very early dialogue. We haven't really been presented with all the details about how it all would work."