FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2009
Davidson Completes 2009 Field for Second Annual Charleston Classic
ESPN Regional Television, Inc. (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN, announced today that Davidson will be the eighth team in the 2009 Charleston Classic, set for Nov. 19-22 at Carolina First Arena in Charleston, S.C.
The other seven teams, previously announced, are La Salle, Miami (Fla.), UNC Wilmington, Penn State, South Carolina, USF and Tulane. Four of the teams in the field played in the 2008-09 National Invitation Tournament, including NIT champion Penn State, Davidson, Miami and South Carolina. Miami won the inaugural O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off in 2007, defeating Providence 64-58 in the championship game.
The second annual Charleston Classic, a bracket-format tournament, will feature 12 games in three days, Nov. 19-22. Each team will compete in one game per day, with the two teams that remain undefeated facing off in a championship match Sunday, Nov. 22.
The Southern Conference (SoCon) will again serve as the event’s sponsoring conference. Game times and networks will be announced at a later date.
In the inaugural Charleston Classic in 2008, Clemson defeated Temple, 76-72, in the championship game. The Tigers, who went on to participate in the NCAA Tournament, also defeated Hofstra and TCU in the Charleston Classic, part of a 16-0 start to the season that vaulted Clemson into the top 10 in the polls by January.
The Charleston Classic was the first event at the brand new Carolina First Arena. Attendance for the six sessions was 12,620, an average of 2,103 per session. The largest crowd was 4,582 on Friday, Nov. 14, for the session including College of Charleston’s season opener against SIU Edwardsville as well as Clemson vs. Hofstra.Fans can purchase travel packages to the tournament by going to www.anthonytravel.com (search Charleston) or calling 1-800-632-6951. Additional information can be found on the Charleston Classic’s official Web site at www.CharlestonClassic.com.
ESPN Regional Television/Event Ownership
The nation’s largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming, ESPN Regional Television (ERT) annually produces more than 1,000 telecasts of sporting events. Programming includes football, basketball, NCAA events, golf and NHRA events accounting for more than 2,200 live and/or original hours of programming. In addition to event ownership, ERT is the production headquarters for ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network; syndication rights-holder and producer of national, regional and local shows for college conferences (e.g. – SEC, BIG EAST, Big 12, Mid-American, Sun Belt, WAC).
ESPN Regional Television markets and/or owns several sporting events, including collegiate football events: the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas); New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Papajohns.com Bowl (Birmingham, Ala.); Las Vegas Bowl; Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu); St. Petersburg Bowl; the MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney (Orlando, Fla.) ; and The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards; collegiate basketball events: the 76 Classic (Anaheim, Calif.); Charleston Classic (S.C.); Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); O’Reilly Auto Parts All-College Classic (Oklahoma City); SEC/BIG EAST Invitational; and the ESPNU BracketBusters; as well as the ESPN National Golf Challenge presented by Callaway. For more information, visit ESPNPlus.com.
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