Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 29, 1994 TAG: 9401290065
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As soon as the league outlines what it will be looking for in a site, the bid for the 1995 and 1996 tournaments will be put together, civic center manager Carey Harveycutter said Friday.
Harveycutter, Salem assistant city manager Forest Jones and city planning and development director Joe Yates will be observing and politicking during this year's Big South tournament March 4-7 at the North Charleston (S.C.) Coliseum. That was the facility that won out over Salem and others in bidding for the 1993 and 1994 tournaments.
"The conference is sending us a bid prospectus sheet," Harveycutter said. "I've already talked to [Big South Commissioner] Buddy Sasser and [Radford University athletic director] Chuck Taylor."
Taylor is on the conference's tournament committee.
Salem also is considering making a bid for the NCAA Division III men's basketball Final Four or the Virginia High School League boys' basketball tournament, neither of which would conflict with the Big South, Harveycutter said.
The Division III Final Four will be played at Buffalo State University through 1996, at which point Salem may submit a bid. The VHSL has announced that it will solicit bids after this year's state boys' basketball tournament in Charlottesville.
The Division III and the VHSL tournaments are scheduled for the same weekend, so Salem can bid on only one, Harveycutter said.
As before, Salem's advantages in bidding for the Big South will be its experience as a tournament host and its location at the geographic heart of the conference. Another plus is its proximity to Radford and to Liberty University, which could boost attendance.
One handicap Salem will face, at least in comparison with Charleston, is that it does not have the weather or the attractions of the South Carolina city.
by CNB