Sunday, April 29, 2001
[ BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS ]
Copycats
could wind up
crippling Classic
The original intent of the
UH tourney was lost when many
other schools created their
own certified events>> Tournaments about exposure
>> Chaminade's win was catalystBy Dave Reardon
Star-BulletinAT AGE 77, Red Rocha is enjoying his retirement in Corvallis, Ore. He plays golf, spends time with his wife, Ginger, and their 19 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Editor's Note: "Up In The Air" is a three-day series exploring the issue of certified events in college basketball and how it impacts Hawaii and the national scene.
>> Sunday: How Hawaii became basketball paradise during the holiday season.
>> Monday: What the future holds if proposed legislation by the NCAA -- which would eliminate exemptions for teams coming to Hawaii -- is passed.
>> Tuesday: Dick Vitale and others tell the Star-Bulletin why the proposal is bad for all of college basketball.
But somebody's trying to kill his baby.
The former University of Hawaii basketball coach, famous for taking the "Fabulous Five" to the NCAA Tournament in 1972, has more reason than most to be upset about a proposal that could squash the Rainbow Classic along with other college basketball tournaments, tournaments commonly known as "certified events."
Rocha, along with former UH athletic director Hank Vasconcellos and sportscaster Chuck Leahey (both since deceased), were the driving forces behind the birth of the Rainbow Classic 37 years ago.
"At the time the University of Hawaii was trying to build itself into a full-fledged program," Rocha said in a phone interview with the Star-Bulletin. "The easiest and quickest way was to build a holiday tournament."
Such a tournament in Hawaii would only work -- then, and now -- because of Vasconcellos' brainchild of the NCAA giving UH special consideration for being the only Division I program outside of the continental United States. The idea was the "Hawaii Exemption," which would allow visiting teams to not count some games played here against their NCAA-imposed limit.
The NCAA approved it, and the Rainbow Classic was for over two decades the nation's premier preseason college basketball tournament. Some of its luster has been taken in recent years by the Maui Invitational, which attracts a better field of teams. But "The Rainbow," as it is known nationally, remains a centerpiece of UH's season.
Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, Pete Maravich, Chris Webber and Elvin Hayes have played in it. Duke, North Carolina and Michigan have participated, but have not always been good enough to win it.
Of all the NCAA certified events (32 now exist), the Rainbow Classic is the only one primarily sponsored by the host school (Outrigger Hotels is the current title sponsor, but UH incurs many costs itself).
But that -- and Hawaii's unique geography -- holds no weight with the NCAA, which strongly indicated on Thursday that UH would get no special consideration in the association's attempt to rein in certified events.
The NCAA's management council voted on April 10 to eliminate the scheduling exemptions for certified events, starting with the 2002-03 season -- a move many feel would possibly eliminate the tournaments and at least severely cripple them.
The events received a stay of execution Thursday, when the NCAA board of directors kicked the proposal back to the management council for more study. Now, the tournaments can continue on unaffected through the 2003 preseason.
No one knows what will happen after that, and the board made it clear it doesn't support an amendment to the original proposal that would make an exception for UH-hosted events.
"No," said Brit Kirwan, board chairman and Ohio State president. "That issue was never addressed by the board and we never saw any distinction."
While reaction at UH was obviously positive regarding Thursday's news, the general feeling is that an idea to help a program with unique challenges has gotten out of control.
UH associate head coach Bob Nash handles scheduling, and has been a part of the Rainbows program since 1970, when he starred for the first UH team to win the Rainbow Classic.
"I think the initial intent was to aid a Division I institution in the middle of the Pacific get quality teams out here to play," Nash said. "The way to do that was to exempt games. Then to be fair to other people, they opened it to everyone. First, Alaska and Puerto Rico.
"Then it just exploded."
Now it could implode and destroy the Rainbow Classic.
Brian Skinner is copying a videotape of the great game he played against Southern Cal last December. Hawaii hoop
tournaments all about
exposureBy Brandon Lee
Special to the Star-BulletinThe Brigham Young-Hawaii basketball player wants all his loved ones to have a record of the game when he made six 3-pointers and the Seasiders put a scare into the nationally ranked Trojans in the first round of the Yahoo! Sports Invitational.
"It was very memorable," Skinner said. "They're a big school and they went pretty far in the (NCAA) Tournament.
"Every basketball player's dream is to play D-I, but if you can't, the chance to at least match up with them is great. It was one of my best games that I ever played."
Tournaments hosted by Hawaii's so-called small colleges are the focal point of the college basketball world each holiday season because of the marquee matchups they create between top-caliber Division I teams.
But for Skinner and those associated with BYUH, Chaminade, Hawaii-Hilo and Hawaii Pacific, the tournaments mean so much more.
For the players and coaches, the competition against Division I teams gives them the chance to test and improve against some of the game's finest before getting into conference schedules. Except for the hosts, the eight-team tournaments are comprised entirely of Division I competition.
And an upset provides valuable confidence, momentum and ratings points.
"From a completely basketball standpoint, we'd like to have the best teams playing in the tournament," said Chaminade athletic director and head basketball coach Aaron Griess of his school's Maui Invitational. "We'd like to continue to have the Dukes, the Kansases and the Arizonas. It's an opportunity for our players to match their skills with the very best college basketball has to offer."
The media exposure is significant as well. Nationwide television, print, Internet and radio coverage of the tournaments every year may help convince a basketball recruit that a Hawaii Division II program, rather than a marginal Division I team, is best for him.
"These tournaments give the smaller schools the chance to lend some credibility to their programs through the ability for matchups with bigger programs," said Maui Invitational advisor Wayne Duke, a former Big Ten Conference commissioner.
The extensive media coverage also gets the names of the schools out to the general public and prospective non-basketball students.
"We see our tournament as a cherry on top (of the basketball program)," BYUH athletic director Randy Day said. "We don't look at our tournament as a big revenue stream. Instead, we see it as a way to market our school and our athletic program."
Said HPU vice president Rick Stepien of his school's Thanksgiving Classic: "There is more of an indirect benefit. The benefit is exposure to the university."
Direct revenues from the Yahoo! Invitational, Thanksgiving Classic and Hilo's Big Island Invitational do not constitute a large percentage of the schools' operating athletic department budgets.
That is not the case with Chaminade. The Maui Invitational, in its 18th year, is the oldest of the local Division II-hosted tournaments and is considered by many the premier preseason event in college basketball.
"The Maui" is televised annually by ESPN, and regularly draws three or four Top-25 teams to its eight-team field (the others usually bring in one or two). Chaminade's tournament is the primary revenue source for its athletic department, with an average annual intake that Griess puts in the neighborhood of $100,000.
Then there are the local Division II fans. Just the opportunity to see their favorite team step on the floor with a national power is a source of pride. But if their team plays well, even in defeat, it can be a source of water cooler conversation for years.
Ask the BYUH faithful rocking their Cannon Activities Center during the USC game.
"It's a chance for fans on the North Shore to experience college basketball at its highest level," Day said.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
