DATE: Thursday, June 12, 1997               TAG: 9706120644

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   50 lines

CAA, RICHMOND REACH 10-YEAR AGREEMENT COLISEUM TO HOST BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS.

The Colonial Athletic Association made it official Wednesday, announcing an expected partnership with Richmond that will put the CAA men's and women's basketball championships in the Richmond Coliseum for 10 years.

The schedule for the men's tournament was also modified. It will end on a Sunday night rather than Monday. The championship game will be televised by ESPN2.

``We were looking for a four-year extension and the city manager said `How about 10?' '' CAA commissioner Tom Yeager said. ``It was something that kind of took us aback. We had discussions in the spring (athletic director's) meetings of ` 10 years is a long time, fellas.' But in the end, it was something everyone felt good about.''

The CAA men's basketball tournament has been at the Coliseum the last eight years, the third-longest running venue for a Division I college basketball championship. Only the Big East and Big 12 have longer-running stays at the same venue.

Yeager said in the new agreement Richmond offered the league a net guarantee that will provide a minimum of 22 percent more revenue than last year's tournament generated. He would not give dollar figures.

Both men's and women's basketball tournaments will begin Wednesday, Feb. 25 - with the No. 8 vs. No. 9 seed play-in games - and conclude on Sunday March 1. Women's quarterfinals will be Thursday; men's will be Friday.

Semifinals and finals for both will be Saturday and Sunday. The men's semifinals and women's championship will be televised by HTS, and then ESPN2 will broadcast the men's final.

Men's quarterfinal games will not be televised by HTS as they have been in recent years, although Yeager said that could change. Women's semis could also end up on HTS.

HTS has been televising CAA finals since the league's inception, always on Monday night. But Yeager said the change to a national rather than regional cable network was too good to pass up.

``Our coaches said if there's an opportunity for ESPN for the championship game, do it,'' Yeager said.

Yeager said another factor in the switch to ESPN2 was that HTS, with increased rights fees for its professional sports properties in the Washington area, has had to scale back its financial commitment to CAA basketball.

The CAA and Richmond also announced a multi-year deal to host a CAA Spring Sports Festival. The first one will be April 17-19, 1998 involving championships in men's and women's tennis, women's lacrosse and men's golf. The 1999 CAA Spring Sports Festival will also include men's and women's outdoor track and field at Virginia Commonwealth's new track.

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