Everything is still on hold. The Rainbow Classic. The Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. The Great Alaska Shootout. [ COLLEGE BASKETBALL ]
Rainbow Classic field
left up to federal courtBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comThe three tournaments are among a dozen men's college basketball events that had hoped to fill their respective fields following a federal court ruling yesterday. However, the ruling is on hold as well after the NCAA and the organizers of exempted tournaments failed to mediate their lawsuit.
The decision of whether Division I schools remain limited to two exempted tournament appearances ever four years now is in the hands of Columbus, Ohio, judge Edmund Sargas. The ruling is expected within the next two weeks.
"We're still on hold," Hawaii associate head coach Bob Nash said yesterday. "We're hoping to get some teams in to boost our (power) rating."
Nash, who is in charge of the team's scheduling, still needs two teams to fill out this December's Rainbow Classic. Syracuse, Oklahoma, Memphis and Alabama are among the teams that would like to be invited to the Classic should the restriction be lifted.
Nash also would like to pick up three nonconference games to complete a 29-game regular-season schedule. One option includes the Rainbows returning to the Big Island Invitational in November.
After several weeks of mediation, the NCAA and organizers are at an impasse. Sargas will either decide in favor of the organizers to eliminate the two-and-four rule, or in favor of the NCAA; the latter could mean the end of exempted tournaments because organizers are running out of teams to fill the fields.
Notes: Brigham Young officials have contacted Hawaii about a possible game for the 2003-2004 season. It would be the first meeting between the Cougars and Rainbows since the 1999 Western Athletic Conference season ... Newly graduated Rainbow guard Predrag Savovic began workouts yesterday at the four-day Chicago pre-draft camp at Moody Bible Institute. The 6-foot-6 shooting guard is listed by ESPN.com as one of the "Five to Watch" players who could jump into the first round with a solid week of play.
UH Athletics