FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 5, 2007
Contact: Evan Olesh 609.921.1300

BLUE RIBBON CHALLENGE TIPS OFF THIS FRIDAY!

The 2007 Blue Ribbon Challenge Tips-Off this Friday, November 9th with two games. Florida will host North Dakota State and Rutgers will host Tennessee Tech.

Southeastern Conference (SEC) member Florida will host four games during the Blue Ribbon Challenge, welcoming the four other teams to the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.  BIG EAST competitor Rutgers will also host Tennessee Tech, North Dakota State and North Carolina Central in Piscataway, N.J., before making the trip south to Gainesville, Fla. Tennessee Tech, North Carolina Central and North Dakota State will also play a round robin format to close out the event. Outlined below are the dates, locations and match-ups for the tournament.

Tickets may be purchased through the host schools’ ticket offices. 

Florida: 352.375.4683 x6800 or visit gatorzone.com
Rutgers: 866.445.4678 or visit scarletknights.com
N.C. Central: 919.530.5170 or visit nccu.edu/athletics
NDSU: 888.231.6378 or visit gobison.com
Tennessee Tech: 931.372.3940 or visit ttusports.com

With its 84-75 victory over Ohio State last year, Florida became the first team in more than a decade to win consecutive national championships (Duke 1991, 1992).  Veteran head coach Billy Donovan’s squad, which posted an impressive 35-5 mark in 2006-07, also set a school record for wins, captured its third-straight SEC Tournament Championship and made its ninth-consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament.  The Gators will be forced to replace six of their top players, including Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Taurean Green, who all entered the NBA Draft.  Coach Donovan will look to fill the gaps with one of the top incoming point guards in the nation Jai Lucas (Bellaire, Texas), along with Adam Allen (Milton, Fla.), Nick Calathes (Casselberry, Fla.), Chandler Parsons (Casselberry, Fla.) and Alex Tyus (St. Louis, Mo.).

Rutgers is entering its second season under Fred Hill.  In Hill’s first season at the helm, the Scarlet Knights were 10-19 overall and 3-13 in the highly competitive Big East Conference.  The second-year coach has secured a strong recruiting class for 2007-08 and will welcome back leading scorer JR Inman.  Inman provided the Scarlet Knights with 12.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game last year, while shooting better than 40 percent from the field and blocking 26 shots.  Inman is among three starters returning, along with three other letterwinners.

North Carolina Central will return six letterwinners and are also beginning their four-year transition to Division I this year.

North Dakota State is entering its first year in the newly renamed Summit League – formerly the Mid-Continent Conference – as well as its first in the Saul Phillips era.  Phillips served as an assistant with the Bison for three seasons under Tim Miles, who departed in March for Colorado State. 
 
Tennessee Tech is entering its sixth season under head coach Mike Sutton, who guided the Golden Eagles to a 19-13 overall record last year and a 13-7 mark against Ohio Valley Conference members. 

The Blue Ribbon Challenge is produced by the Gazelle Group in Princeton, N.J.  The Gazelle Group is a sports marketing firm, specializing in event production, client representation, and sponsorship consulting.  Gazelle produces numerous nationally-recognized events, such as the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer and the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic.  For more information on The Gazelle Group, please visit the website at gazellegroup.com. To sign up for the latest news regarding the Blue Ribbon Challenge, please visit the official tournament website at blueribbonchallenge.com.