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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2002 Guardians Classic to Feature Notre Dame & Creighton Princeton, NJ (September 3, 2002) – Notre Dame and Creighton will each host the opening rounds of the Guardians Classic, an eight-team, exempt college basketball tournament Nov. 17-18. The championship rounds of the event will be held Nov. 25-26 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. Other schools participating in the tournament include Alabama State, Belmont, Brown, Furman, IUPUI and Texas-Arlington. (See bracket for match-ups and dates.) Notre Dame and Creighton both made the NCAA tournament last season, each advancing to the second round. Notre Dame returns sharp-shooting senior Matt Carroll and the 2002 Basketball News and Basketball Times National Freshman of the Year, Chris Thomas, who arguably comprise one of the nation's top backcourts. In addition, the Irish return seven letterwinners and welcome a heralded freshman class that has been ranked as high as 12th nationally. Creighton
returns the 2002 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year,
Kyle
Korver, who is the league active career leader for three-point
field goals and steals. The
Blue Jays return all five starters from their 2001-02 squad. The winner and runner-up from each regional round (four teams total) will advance to the championship rounds at historic Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City. Municipal Auditorium has played host to more NCAA Final Fours than any other building. The national collegiate basketball champion has been crowned nine times on the Municipal hardwood, including John Wooden's first UCLA title team in 1964. In last year’s Guardians Classic, Missouri defeated Iowa in the championship game, 78-77. “To have such a diverse field, with teams from eight different conferences, playing in such an exciting tournament format is a tremendous way to begin the season. Having coaches from around the country participate in the event also provides a great platform for our Guardians of the Game program and promotes the role coaches play in the lives of student athletes and their communities,” says Jim Haney, Executive Director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The Guardians Classic, created to promote the NABC's Guardians of the Game program, which emphasizes four core values; advocacy, leadership, service, and education, is produced by the Gazelle Group. Championship round ticket information will be released in the near future and tickets will be available through Ticketmaster. Tickets to the opening round games can be purchased through the host school box offices. For more information about the Guardians Classic visit www.GuardiansClassic.com or contact Phil Wendler at (609)921-1300 or pwendler@gazellegroup.com. |
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