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GIT: On sab
By CRAIG T. GREENLEE
Special To The Review
The only national black college postseason
basketball tournament is taking
a one-year leave of absence to enhance
itc Atmpal
lio appvaii
The Georgia Invitational Tourna
liiciu was rcvivcu iom year as a pusiseason
affair after being discontinued
in 1978 as a pre-season tournament.
In its first year as a post-season tournament
in *85, the quality of play ex
ceeded everyone's expectations. There
was only one blow-out and the rest of
the games were decided by no more
than two points. However, few were on
hand to witness the drama. Only 2,000
fans bothered to show for the finals at
the 16t000-seat Omni.
Bearing that in mind, the tournament's
organizers are taking a long
look at their marketing strategies, says
Robert Pritchett, president of Brother
Sports and head basketball coach at
Clark College. Brother Sports is a
community-based organization that
brought the GIT back to life. The
organization also is involved in
Hf?vf?1nnino cwirfc nrnorams fnr Atlan
. ta youth.
One of the problems the tournament
- had last year, Pritchett says, is with
promotions outside of Atlanta. "Since
we're a national tournament, we have
to appeal to more than Atlanta," he
says. "Last year, we started late with
our promotions, even though our
billboards and radio announcements
were significant. But we didn't tap
those areas where people who are most
likely to attend the games come fromT
Those areas include cities and towns of
the schools that participated in the
tournament."
This time around, promotions will
begin in September when the colleges
open for the fall semester. This way,
rnicncu explains, inc mcuia in uiubc
cities with schools that have GIT
potential can inform people all season
long, which will allow people enough
time to make arrangements to come to
Atlanta for the tournament.
The GIT is really an NIT of black
college basketball. Teams that win
their post-season conference tournaments
get automatic bids for the
NCAA playoffs in both Division I and
. Division 11. After that* there_aKLStill
good teams left, but they rarely get at
t t A? f 1 ^
large digs, so ineir seasons cnu. inc
GIT was formed so that good black
. college teams will have somewhere to
play even if, tfcey. don't get the
automatic or at-large NCAA bids.
In addition, the GIT plans to
establish more activities surrounding
the tournament, Including possible
batical to re
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Despite the presence of such stars a
. drawn well since its revival (photo b:
basketball clinics for high schools,
YMCAs and Boys Clubs. The clinics
would include coaches and players
from each of the GIT teams. On the
social side, the organizers are loo kins
at arranging for live entertainment one
night during the tournament and setting
up discount nights for fans at
Atlanta night spots as part of the OIT
package.
The basketball clinics, Pritchett
says, could be instrumental in helping
the GIT become a community affair.
The clinics will hopefully encourage
youngsters to become more familiar
with.black college basketball, he says. _
Pritchett says that, since NCAA
Bylaw 5-1-j (Proposition 48) will keep
some youngsters .from attending Division
I schools, the tournament could
become a vehicle to help familiarize
youngsters with black colleges in Division
J[I. It could become a prime
recruiting tool^
Another aSRnhe Brother Sports ex
medy saggii
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/ Craig T. Greenlee).
ecutive committee is looking into is the
scheduling of events for the entire
week. Last year, the tournament ran
Thursday through Saturday.
For *87, the committee is contemplating
the following tentative
OVIIVM ?MV
Wednesday - teams arrive in Atlanta
Thursday - basketball clinics conducted
Friday night - opening round of
play for eight-team field
Saturday afternoon - semi-finals
, Saturday night - live entertainment
associated with GIT, discounts offered
to GIT spectators at night spots around
Atlanta
Sunday afternoon - championship
finals
Arranging the schedule in this way,
ratcnett says, gives people the opportunity
to watch some good basketball,
involves the community and provides
S5S Black College Sports Review
ng interest
some social outlets for people coming
to Atlanta for the tournament.
To help foster a tournament with
more people in the seats, the tournament's
organizers have decided to go
with a smaller arena. At press time, ihe^
choices had been narrowed to gyms at
K/frtrric Rrnu/n PaIIpop anH Pipnroi a
? w a >w Wi V " 11 WV?1V^V ?M?%* WV?
Tech.
Morris Brown, in Pritchett's opinion,
would make a better locale
because it's located in the black community
and would be good for the
Atlanta University Center. "1 would
love to see a jam-packed crowd at
Brown (about 5,000)," he says.
Another area the committee is considering
is the selection process for the
tournament. Last year, selections were
based on the best available teams according
to overall win-loss records,
regardless of what teams did in their
respective conferences. Also last year,
some teams chose not to play in the
GIT for various reasons, forcing the
tourftiunent to complete its field with
teams that had losing records.
Complicating matters is the fact that
the schools invited to play come from
i I.!_a 11 ? _ _ *
uic iour nisioricauy DiacK comerences.
Two of those leagues ~ the SWAC and
the ME AC, consist of Division I
schools, while colleges in the CIAA
and SI AC are Division II institutions.
The difference in schedules between
Division I and Division II makes the
selection process harder than it would
be if all schools played the same level
of competition. But they don't and,
since the Division I teams play some of
their overall records are likely to be
poorer than those of their Division II
counterparts.
Let's say the best available ME AC
team was 9-2 in conference play, but
14-16 overall, because of who it
played. How do you decide if it should ~
be invited or not?
Pritchett answers that he favors a
formula for Division I schools where
their conference records and strength
of schedules would be factors in
deciding which best available Division
I black college would be invited to the
tournament.
The executive committee, he adds, is
leaning toward using that formula for
Division I schools, but first will consult,
the schools involved for their commpntc
anrl iri?oc
1MVIIW UIIU IWVIU
The decision to cancel this year's
GIT was made last December. The
plans for next year are expected to be
finalized by June 1.
Craig Greenlee is a free-lance writer
who lives in Atlanta and is a frequent
contributor to ike Review.
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