It’s official. The General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Basketball Championships will be held in Macon, Georgia for the first time in the conference’s history following the 2009-10 and 2010-11 basketball seasons. As the oldest remaining charter member in the conference, this will also be the first time Mercer University has hosted a post-season collegiate basketball tournament of any kind.
At the press conference held Tuesday, March 17th inside the University Center, A-Sun Commissioner Ted Gumbart was elated that the tournament was coming to Macon. “We are very excited to bring our premier event to Macon, and we look forward to Mercer University serving as host for the General Shale Brick A-Sun Basketball Championships for the next two years,” commented Gumbart said. He went on to add, “Mercer has an outstanding facility, provides a central location for A-Sun fans, and the Mercer community will do an outstanding job as hosts. On behalf of the membership, we extend our thanks to Mercer University President Bill Underwood for his sincere interest in bringing the event to the University Center and we look forward to continuing a tradition of excellence and growth by having our championships here in 2010 and 2011.”
Among the officials and representatives that spoke at the conference, perhaps no one was more excited about the tournament coming to Macon than Mercer University Athletic Director Bobby Pope. After approaching the podium, Pope said, “It’s about time,” drawing a few laughs from the crowd. During the half-hour press conference, Pope went on to comment, “The University Center and Macon's central location within the conference makes us the ideal choice. As the only charter member remaining in the A-Sun it is only fitting that we should host the tournament for the first time in Conference history.”
Several key factor affected the conference’s decision to bring the championships to Macon. Among others, the distance factor was an easy sell for Mercer. No team is more than 512 miles away from Macon (Florida Gulf Coast), making the central Georgia location ideal for hosting the tournament. Another less obvious factor in the A-Sun’s decision making was the renewed interest in basketball from Mercer’s fan base. This season, attendance in the UC averaged a little less than 1800 spectators, up 58% from last season’s attendance totals. With the local support in Macon and traveling teams’ accompanying fans, Atlantic Sun officials fully expect that the 14 games (7 men’s & 7 women’s) in 2010 and 2011 will be well attended and close to capacity considering the University Center seats 3200+ fans.
Both Mercer head coaches Bob Hoffman and Janell Jones were excited about the proposition of having home-court advantage in the postseason. Jones commented, “I think it’s great to have this event here for the next two years. Bring the A-Sun Championships here will definitely give Mercer University some exposure. I’m sure the community will come and support Mercer and the visiting teams.”
Fair warning for Mercer fans: If you thought the sellout games the past two seasons against Alabama and Georgia Tech were exciting, just wait until next March.
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