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INTERVIEW"
Free: Now I
By SAM DAVIS
Review Staff Writer
MEAC Commissioner Ken Free ;
breathed a sigh of relief recently after
unveiling plans to move the conference's
post-season basketball tournament
to Philadelphia.
The annual tourney, which serves as
the major fundraising event for the
league, had not fared well in recent
years. -
Free said things hit rock-bottom
when the combined attendance for the
first two nights of the 1984 tourney was
only 4,200 and a mere 4,085 were on
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But in an agreement recently completed
between the ME AC and the City
of Philadelphia, the conference stands
to net close to $100,000 in addition to
expenses for tys six member schools.
Now that the league has reached a
lucrative pact to host its annual basketball
tournament at the Palestra on the
campus of? the University of
Philadelphia, Free said his office can
concentrate on other priorities.
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developing a basketball tournament,"
Free said in an interview at MEAC
headquarters in Greensboro, N.C.
"We won't have to worry about
scheduling entertainment to increase
attendance or any of the other things
which are not related to producing a
quality basketball tournament."
Free said the conference's pact with
Philadelphia came as the result of
careful foresight and with the help of
conference would benefit from a
change in location for the ailing
tourney.
"We threw around several ideas and
talked with various civic leaders in sites
we thought would increase
attendance/' Free said.
"We set our sights high so fhat we
would finish the tournament in the
black and have some funds remaining
for league functions. We sort of mentioned
the goal of 4*aving-a -guarantee
of $100,000 and expenses for the staffs
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ana teams rrom an league scnoois."
Bill Blakely, a North Carolina A*T
alumnus, played a vital role in the
MEAC's agreement with Philadelphia.
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MEAC Commissioner Free: Banking
ment around (photo by Joe Daniels)
Blakely, who lives in Washington,
D.C., first approached officials from
his city about the idea, but received no
favorable responses.
Blakely then talked to high-ranking
officials from Philadelphia, who were
"We approached them from the
highest level of city officials," said
Free. "At the time we First approached
them, Wilson Goode was running for
office. Once Mayor Goode won the
election, he was sold on the idea that
the tournament would be an asset to
the community. What it means to him
and the city of Philadelphia is that it
will bring a quality, historically black
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Another Xactor thai helped influence
the move to Philadelphia was the fact
that the Palestra's director, Charles
Hdrris, is an alumnus of Hampton Institute.
"Being an alumnus of a black inMorgan
State University, preparing
to move up from Division II into Division
I, has fired basketball Coach Billy
Newton after two seasons....
Johnson C. Smith University, which
lost four key football players to grades
last season, apparently isn't eager to
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on Philadelphia's good will and IAEA
stitution, he could relate to the tournament
and see how the tournament
could gain support in a city where
quality basketball is appreciated,"
Free said.
Thus, when the Philadelphia Advisory
Committee (a leg of the
Philadelphia Mayor's Office) approached
the Palestra and Harris, the
agreement was cemented.
In fact, Free said after initiating
talks with city officials, Philadelphia's
private sector said it would help insure
the tournament's success.
"The hotels and other businesses
have really opened up to us," said
Free. "The elements in Philadelphia
have taken the primary lead in promoting
the tournament.
"Also," he said, "they have assured
us that we'll get good coverage from
the press. The people of Philadelphia
feel that the MEAC should build in a
city of neutrality and, with
have that happen again. New coach
Horace Small is pictured on this year's
media guide surrounded by college textbooks....
South Carolina State football Coach
Bill Davis says his team, which plays in
a small stadium, must begin looking at
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iC alumni to turn the MEAC Tourna- i
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Philadelphia being a basketball town, <
they feel it would be an excellent 1
association."
The plan for filling the 9,200-seat
Palestra each of the three nights the
tournament is held is to draw about
4,000 people from Philadelphia that
~enjoy watching"quality basketball.
Then Free said he hopes that some
4,000 alumni of MEAC member
schools will travel to Philadelphia for
the tournament.
Hopefully, he said, the remaining
seats will be taken by students of participating
schools.
"Most of our schools have very
strong and active alumni organizations
in Philadelphia," said Free. "Actually,
the majority of our alumni live-within
three hours of Philadelphia. I -think
wr*tt al30 have good paiticipation from
the students because four of our
member schools (Delaware State,
Howard, Morgan State and MarylandEastern
Shore) are not more than i
three-hour drive from Philadelphia."
playing promotional games in larger
aucs 10 iry to raise more money....
Long-time Prairie View A&M sports
publicist Henry Hawkins is now handling
those duties at Grambling, replacing.
Gus Howard.
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5555SS3 September, 1984-Page 27