Pro tourney future to be discussed

Victoria Sun

Friday, June 28, 2002 | 9:54 a.m.

Organizers of the World Pro Basketball Challenge will meet Monday to evaluate whether to hold the eight-team basketball tournament again next year.

Even with the participation of Magic Johnson's All-Star team and the Harlem Globetrotters, crowds for the event have fallen well short of projections. The biggest crowds, for the games involving Johnson's team, have been around 500.

"I think the people who've been here have enjoyed the action," tournament director Brad Rothermel said. "It's not as many as we hoped to attract, but other than that, I think it's going well."

Monday's meeting will address several factors, such as the timing of the event and the number of teams.

This year's tournament coincided with the NBA Draft on Wednesday night. Rothermel said a possible scenario would be to move the tournament to July and reduce the field to four teams, with games Tuesday and Thursday.

"I'm not sure if it's the tournament model (we have to change)," Rothermel said. "Maybe we didn't promote it as well as we could have."

The former UNLV athletic director declined to predict the fate of the event.

"It's premature at this point," he said. "We'll have a lot better sense after we re-evaluate next week."

If the tournament returns next year, Rothermel said it will remain at Cox Pavilion.

The ABA will play Team Europe, which advanced Wednesday with a victory over the Magic Johnson All-Stars.

Fred Vinson topped the ABA with 16 points and A.C. Green supplied 12. Jon Gaines had 20 for London. In the other game, the Globetrotters beat Vasco da Gama of Brazil 78-74. Ed Gray topped the winners with 16 points, while Rogerio Klafke had 20 for the Brazilians, who made it close with a late rally.