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Men’s Basketball: UL awaits word on invitational

Men’s Basketball: UL awaits word on invitational

Men’s Basketball: UL awaits word on invitational

jparrott@theadvertiser.com • March 8, 2011

Joshua Parrott

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Even with UL’s 81-76 loss to Western Kentucky on Sunday, the Ragin’ Cajuns might play again this season.

Joe Imel/Sun Belt Conference  UL’s La’Ryan Gary drives to the basket over Western Kentucky’s Caden Dickerson during their game Sunday.

Joe Imel/Sun Belt Conference UL’s La’Ryan Gary drives to the basket over Western Kentucky’s Caden Dickerson during their game Sunday.

The Cajuns (14-15) and first-year coach Bob Marlin could still be invited to play in the College Basketball Invitational, a 16-team tournament that does not require a participant to be above .500.

Created in 2008, the CBI is run by the Gazelle Group, Inc., a New Jersey sports marketing firm involved in hosting preseason basketball tournaments. Games are played on college campuses with a best-of-three series determining the CBI champion.Participants in the CBI and CollegeInsider.com tournament, another pay-for-play event, will be selected after the NCAA tournament and NIT fields are set next Sunday. First-round CBI games start March 15.

The Cajuns finished as one of the nation’s hottest teams, winning their final 11 regular-season games and a share of the Sun Belt West Division title before losing to WKU on Sunday. Their 11 straight victories tied for the second-best active win streak in the nation and in school history."Bob and I have not been able to sit down and talk about all of that yet, but we will," UL interim director of athletics Scott Farmer said Sunday night. "It’s a little early, but as of this moment we have not been contacted yet."Ray Cella, director of media relations for the CBI, said last week that it was too soon to speculate which teams could be considered for the event. Cella added that letters of inquiry were sent out to schools in January to gauge their interest in the event.The CBI has invited four teams in the past with losing records, although they all played in power conferences. Oregon State (14-17) made it last season, St. John’s (16-17) and Oregon State (13-17) accepted invitations two years ago and Cincinnati (13-18) participated in 2008.

Only one Sun Belt school — Troy lost at home to Charleston, 93-91, in 2009 — has participated in the CBI. Tulsa (2008), Oregon State (2009) and VCU (2010) have won the event in the past three years.

"We look at how teams have done over the course of the season, in their league, over the past 10 or so games and their personnel," Cella said. "It’s all the same things that the other postseason tournaments look at. Unlike some tournaments we will accept teams that are at or below .500."

According to published reports last year, the CBI requires a guarantee fee of $60,000-$70,000 to host each round unless the school can negotiate a deal with the tournament organizers to play in one of their upcoming preseason tournaments. The guarantee fee goes toward expenses for the visiting team, game operations and the Gazelle Group, Inc.Cella said he would not publicly disclose the CBI’s guarantee fee.

The CBI starts with first-round games on March 15 and 16, followed by the quarterfinals on March 21 and semifinals on March 23. The best-of-three championship series is March 28-April 1.According to the Cajundome website, the facility has no scheduling conflicts on any of those dates.

Filling seats shouldn’t be a problem for the Cajuns, whose average home attendance increased from 2,762 last season to a Sun Belt-best 4,742 this season. Their average attendance jumped to 5,535 in their final six home games and 6,813 in their last three in the Cajundome.The Cajuns haven’t advanced to the postseason since winning the Sun Belt tournament in the 2004-05 season, although that championship was later vacated due to NCAA sanctions.After Sunday’s loss, senior forward La’Ryan Gary said he hoped that the Cajuns would earn an invitation to the CBI because "we all want to continue to play."Marlin would have received a $3,000 bonus if the Cajuns had played in the CIT but has no such clause in his contract for the CBI.

"I’m not really concerned with that right now," Marlin said after Sunday’s loss. "I think we needed to win this game tonight, and we didn’t. In my mind, it’s a moot point."

Athletic Network Footnote:

Click here for the photo gallery of the Jan. 21-22, 2011 Basketball Reunion
(Over 300 photos in eight links and New Stories Link has over 40 stories)

Click here for the January 18, 2003 Basketball Reunion  

Click here for the Nov. 1-2, 2001 Shipley Basketball Reunion