Tuesday, May 15, 2012

JOHNSON CITY (May 15, 2012) – The ETSU men’s basketball team will be part of the field for the 2012 Diamond Head Classic, marking the third time in the past nine years that the Buccaneers have made an appearance in a tournament hosted on Hawaii’s island of Oahu.

The tournament is set to be played on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Dec. 22, 23 & 25, at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Since taking over the ETSU program in 2003-04, head coach Murry Bartow has led the Bucs to an average of nearly 20 wins a year and made five postseason appearances – three NCAA Championship trips (2004, 2009, 2010), one NIT (2007) and one CIT (2011).

“We are very excited to be participating in the Diamond Head Classic next season,” Bartow said. “This trip will give our program tremendous exposure and will be a fantastic experience for the student-athletes, especially because we will be playing some of the nation’s great basketball programs.”

The Bucs have enjoyed tremendous success in the last 10 seasons, collecting seven conference titles, and eclipsing 20 wins in six of those years (2002-03, 2003-2004, 2006-2007, 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2010-2011).

Also competing in the 2012 Diamond Head Classic is NCAA Championship qualifying team San Diego State, along with Classic host Hawaii, Arizona, Indiana State, Miami (Fla.), Ole Miss and San Francisco.

 Tournament Field

• San Diego State earned a berth into the NCAA Championship, while Arizona, Miami and Ole Miss earned National Invitation Tournament (NIT) berths 
• San Francisco competed in the College Basketball Invitational Tournament and Indiana State participated in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament

Tournament Information 
The 2012 Diamond Head Classic, an eight-team men’s college basketball tournament, will feature 12 games over the three days. Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. The two teams that remain undefeated throughout will face off in a championship match.

The Diamond Head Classic is owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN.

The University of Southern California won the inaugural tournament in 2009, followed by Butler in 2010 and Kansas State in 2011.

 Travel information
The family-friendly tournament and resort destination of Honolulu, HI will host the teams to three days of play, practices and the unique spirit of Aloha from the Hawaiian Islands. Teams will also have the opportunity to attend the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl played during the same week. Additional information, including travel packages, can be found on the Diamond Head Classic Web site at www.diamondheadclassic.com.

ESPN Regional Television/Event Ownership
The nation’s largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming, ESPN Regional Television (ERT) annually produces more than 1,200 sporting events. Content includes action from NCAA football, basketball and Olympic sports, NHRA and professional and amateur golf, accounting for more than 3,400 live and/or original hours of programming. ERT’s owned and operated events reach over a million fans a year and provides more than 200 additional hours of programming.

In addition to event ownership, ERT is the production headquarters for ESPNU; syndication rights-holder and producer of national, regional and local shows for college conferences (SEC, BIG EAST, Big 12, Mid-American, WAC) and manages the Big 12 Corporate Partner Program.