Michigan State AD Mark Hollis upset Detroit hoops tourney conflicts with Lions-Bears
EAST LANSING – The tipoff times and TV broadcast details for the District Detroit College Basketball Showcase were announced quietly Tuesday.
And Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis is not happy about what he heard.
The Spartans will face Oakland at 4 p.m. on Dec. 16 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Michigan and Detroit Mercy will play the matinee game at 1:30.
The problem?
The Lions host the Bears at Ford Field in NFL action a half hour after the Spartans and Golden Grizzlies tip off, with a 4:30 p.m. kickoff.
“It’s disappointing,” Hollis told the Free Press on Wednesday. “While there’s so many things that we’ve done with our TV partners, including ESPN, this is one that is just disappointing for such a monumental weekend for college basketball, that building and the city of Detroit.”
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Game times were set through the Horizon League’s TV deal with ESPN because Oakland and UD Mercy are the home teams, and Hollis said they were out of the schools’ control. The MSU-Oakland game on ESPN2, while the U-M-Detroit game will be shown on ESPNU.
Greg Kampe, Oakland’s coach, agreed with Hollis about the timing conflict with what he called “such a big game for Oakland.” He hopes the issue can be resolved.
“I would much rather not be playing the game while the Lions are playing,” Kampe said. “I think there’s still some leeway in it, but I don’t know for sure. … I do think it’s September, and they had to get the game times out and TV locked in, so we got all that. And now, if it can be tweaked, I think that the people that are running this are very smart people. They’re gonna do everything they can to make this work. All avenues will be explored to make it work.”
Hollis said the inaugural tournament was meant to be a celebration of the city and its basketball heritage when it was created. The date for the event, announced April 25, had been set before the NFL schedules were released April 20. It was believed the TV networks would be able to work around the mid-afternoon Saturday Lions-Bears game, in part to help prevent logistical issues with parking and traffic.
“I think one of the big reasons you play in Detroit is to allow Spartan fans to have the opportunity to go down there and be part of a city that has a lot of positive things going on,” Hollis said. “One of those opportunities in the design of moving those games there was for fans of Michigan, fans of Michigan State to join Oakland and Detroit and be part of a big celebration. And knowingly, the Detroit Lions game was part of that celebration. To play either prior to or following (the Lions game) would have been ideal.
“But unfortunately, when there are only so many slots available on TV and they drop you in, I was surprised that that opportunity was taken away.”
Kampe said the games are on the same day as Oakland’s graduation, and they cannot be moved to Dec. 17 because that Sunday is Michigan’s graduation. He added his concerns that fans of all schools who hoped to get to watch both basketball games and the Lions game for a full day of sports might now bypass one or the other.
“Because of the gravity of the game, we agreed to play it (on graduation day),” Kampe said. “So now, it was, ‘OK, how can we make this work?’ This great idea got turned into a great day of basketball and football.
“Until we get to that date, I think there’s always wiggle room to make it better. I think that there will be people who are trying to do that. And I’m hoping that we can find a way to get these games in and the Lions game and not conflict right on top of each other.”
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It will be the first college basketball event at Little Caesars Arena, which is slated to host NCAA Tournament first- and second-round games on March 16 and 18, 2018 and then again in 2021.
“What we have to do now is step back and readjust,” Hollis said. “I think, still, going down to that arena is an unbelievable opportunity for Spartan fans to see a facility that’s very special and one that’s going to be home to NCAA basketball tournaments for years to come.”
Tickets to the District Detroit College Basketball Showcase can be purchased at OlympiaEntertainment.com, the Fox Theatre and Little Caesars Arena box offices, as well as Ticketmaster.com. To charge tickets by phone, call 800-745-3000. For additional information, call 313-471-6611.
One ticket is good for both games.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.