NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNEY DATES ANNOUNCED

Fifth Annual Court Classic in Madison Square Garden Starts March 17. John

Coffey, Asa Bushnell Named Committee Chairmen.

 

ATES for the fifth annual National Invitation

Tournament in Madison Square Garden have
been announced by John Coffey, of Fordham, chair-
man of the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball
Committee, sponsors of the annual court classic.
The tourney will be conducted as an eight team
competition as it was a year ago. First round
games will be played Tuesday, March 17; and Thurs-
day, March 19; with the semi-finals on Monday,
March 23, and the final on Wednesday, March 25.

Action on the tourney plan and dates was taken
at a meeting of the committee held Tuesday, Janu-
ary 20, at which time John Coffey of Fordham was
named to succeed the late Professor Walter William-
son of City College as chairman of the group of
ten colleges comprising the metropolitan committee.
Walter MacLaughlin of St. John's University was
named secretary-treasurer to succeed Clair Bee of
Long Island University.

The committee named Asa Bushnell, director of
the Central Office for Eastern Intercollegiate Athle-
tics, as executive chairman of the Tournament Com-
mittee in full charge of details for the tourney.
Three college representatives of the tourney com-
mittee will be appointed by Mr. Coffey. The Metro-
politan Basketball Writers Association will be re-
quested to select one of its membership to serve
with the tourney body.

Present at the meeting of the committee, in ad-
dition to Coffey of Fordham, Bee of L.I.U., and
McLaughlin of St. John's, were the representatives
of the seven other member schools: Herb Kopf,
Manhattan College; Brother Richard, St. Francis;
Dr. Anthony Orlando, Ctiy College; Hollis Spotts,
Pratt; Arthur Meinhold, Brooklyn Poly; Lou Oshins,
Brooklyn College; and John MacDonald, Hofstra
College. A. B. Nixon of New York University was
present as an observer. The committee has invited
Wagner College of Staten Island to become an
affiliated member.

The committee also decided that it would continue
to present its annual award for an outstanding con-
tribution to the game of basketball. This award will
be made at the disposition of the National Associa-
tion of Basketball Coaches at its annual meeting.

Last year's tournament in Madison Square Garden
broke all attendance records with 70,826 spectators

in four nights. The largest opening night crowd of
15,751 witnessed the start of last year's tourney
and one-night records for attendance in Madison
Square Garden were established each of the other
three nights as 18,341, 18,357 and 18,377 attended.
The tourney was won by Long Island University,
which downed Ohio University in the final, 56-42.
Other competing teams last year were Duquesne
University, Rhode Island State, University of Vir-
ginia, Westminister College, Seton Hall and City
College.

Frank Baumholtz of Ohio University, now with the
Great Lakes team, won the Most Valuable Player
award. Temple University won the first tournament
in 1938 from Colorado U.; L.I.U. won from Loyola
of Chicago in 1939; and Colorado University de-

teated Duquesne in 1940.

 

FORREST. B. COX

Colorado Coach, Whose Team
Won 1940 Tourney