college tip off luncheon

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SoCalHoops College News

Wooden Award Annual College
Tip-Off Luncheon This Thursday--(Oct. 13, 2003)

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What:   Wooden Award Annual College Tip-Off Luncheon
When: Thursday, Oct. 16, 2003
Time:    11:30 a.m.
Where: Los Angeles Athletic Club
Cost:    $35.00 per person
Reservations required: Call Member Services at 213-630-5255

Our friend Brian Murphy, who is one of the people responsible for administering the Annual John R. Wooden Award, given out each year in the spring to the top college basketball player in America, gave us a call last week to remind us about the Wooden Award's Annual College Basketball Tip-Off Luncheon, which features just about every head Division I coach in Southern California, or at the very least, some of the best assistants from every D-I program in SoCal. It's a great event, and we've attended for quite a few years, and we'd recommend it to anyone who wants to meet and greet some of the best basketball minds in the country. Attending will be UCLA Coach Ben Howland, LMU Coach Steve Aggers, San Diego State Coach Steve Fisher, Cal Poly Coach Kevin Bromley, USD Coach Brad Holland, UCI Coach Pat Douglass, CSUN Coach Bobby Braswell, Pepperdine Coach Paul Westphal, Fullerton Coach Bob Burton, UC Riverside Coach John Masi, Long Beach State Coach Larry Reynolds, and UC Santa Barbara Coach Bob Williams. USC will be represented by newly hired assistant, and former SDSU assistant Marvin Menzies. Other assistants could be coming as stand-ins, but for now the only one we've had confirmation on is Coach Menzies in place of head coach Henry Bibby, who has consistently passed on this event for at least the last five or six years of his eight year tenure.

Actually, this year we're expecting quite a few more assistants than head coaches. Why? Because October 15, 2003 has been designated by the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) as the day that every Division I head coach is required to be in Chicago for a mandatory NABC meeting to discuss ethics in college basketball. Doesn't sound like something that would attract all the coaches, you say? Well, the NABC has thrown this little inducement into the pot as a sweeetener: Any coach who fails to attend the mandatory meeting will forfeit his allotment of Final Four tickets.....And with that, you can bet that all 300+ D-I head coaches will be in Chicago....Which means that many of the SoCal guys who would normally attend this luncheon may be just leaving Chicago that morning....So perhaps we will see more than a few assistant coaches at the Wooden Award Tip-Off Luncheon this year after all....

Generally the luncheon is a pretty informal affair, held in a room which is anything but informal (it's staid, dark-paneled and impressive). The food is good, the jokes are usually free-flowing, and everyone has a good time. Each coach will speak for about 10 minutes, offering predictions, dire warnings, and the like about the upcoming season, and there will be plenty of opportunities to speak with each of the coaches, both in Q&A format and informally before and after the luncheon.

This year's luncheon will also feature the announcement of the 2004 John R. Wooden Award "Legends of Coaching" recipient. We have no idea who is getting the award, but it's guaranteed to be someone genuinely deserving.

Again, this is a great event, one you won't want to miss.

See you there....

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