USCAA NATIONAL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS RETURN TO UNIONTOWN
The USCAA National Basketball Championships will be returning to Western Pennsylvania March 1-5, 2011. The USCAA Board of Directors are excited to announce that Penn State Fayette has been awarded its second two-year bid to host the tournament.
Newport News, Va. – The USCAA National Basketball Championships will be returning to Western Pennsylvania March 1-5, 2011. The USCAA Board of Directors are excited to announce that Penn State Fayette has been awarded its second two-year bid to host the tournament.
Fayette played host to the National Basketball Championships in 2009 and 2010, the first years in which championships in all three divisions were held concurrently at the same location.
“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome our friends from the USCAA back for another two years,” said Vince Capozzi, the tournament’s chair. “We have gotten to know so many people over the course of the past two years that this is going to feel like a family reunion.”
USCAA Executive Director Bill Casto said that returning to Fayette was an exciting venture for the association. “The Main Arena at Penn State Fayette is a first class venue, one that we are proud to have host our National Basketball Championships. Both the USCAA and Penn State Fayette have had two years to fine tune the format of hosting each of our three basketball tournaments concurrently. Fayette did an outstanding job of improving the tournament in 2010 and we fully expect that trend to continue.”
The tournament will consist of 30 teams, playing 44 games over four days to crown three USCAA National Champions. “That’s a lot of basketball in a very short period of time, but I think that’s what makes it so exciting,” Capozzi noted.
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa will once again be the tournament’s official headquarters. The resort will also be the site of the tournament’s opening banquet. “We are going to make some changes to the banquet this year that will place the focus on our All-Americans and All-Academic student-athletes,” Capozzi explained. “And we all believe that is where the spotlight should be that night.”
The 2011 USCAA National Basketball Championships will kick off official activities on Tuesday, March 1st with the annual skills competition. The banquet will follow later that evening. Play begins on Wednesday, March 2ndas the quest for the National Championship begins. As was the case in 2010, each of the three divisions will play out to fifth place, guaranteeing each team the opportunity to play a minimum of two games. The National Championship games will be played on Saturday, March 5th.
For more information on the tournament, contact Matt Simms at 757-303-8947 or Vince Capozzi at 724-430-4100, Ext. 4515.