KC’s Hall of Fame Classic has new dates (this weekend), new team (read on), but no fans
Like everyone else, new National Association of Basketball Coaches executive director Craig Robinson has made adjustments because of the COIVD-19 pandemic.
This weekend, Robinson is expected to arrive in Kansas City for the first time since he was named to replace Jim Haney as the NABC’s top executive in July.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the office, meeting people,” Robinson said of the Kansas City-based organization.
He’s been working on NABC matters from his home in Milwaukee thus far, and being in Kansas City will mean being part of one the organization’s signature events, the Hall of Fame Classic.
Managing the 2020 edition of the four-team basketball tournament has required similar flexibility. Games traditionally played before Thanksgiving are now set for this Saturday and Sunday at T-Mobile Center because this year’s NCAA hoops season doesn’t begin until Wednesday.
The field still includes three of its original teams — South Carolina, TCU and Tulsa. The fourth was to be Northwestern, but the Wildcats pulled out and Liberty was added instead.
There will be no tickets sold and no fans allowed in the stands for the 20th annual tournament.
The schedule: Liberty vs. South Carolina at 3 p.m. (ESPNU) and Tulsa vs. TCU at 6:30 p.m. (ESPN3) on Saturday, with the third-place game at noon Sunday followed by the championship game at 2:30 p.m. Both of the Sunday games will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Also, there is no National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame induction celebration this year. The event will shift to 2021.
“I’m certainly disappointed that we can’t do what we’d normally be doing,” Robinson said. “But it’s so much more important that we are on the same page to get out of this situation from a global standpoint. We’ve tried to promote flexibility.”
This story was originally published November 23, 2020 at 1:59 PM.