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New CIT selection chair coach Riley Wallace cites GWC's automatic bid into the postseason tournament a plus for the 2010 tournament
 
New CIT selection chair coach Riley Wallace cites GWC's automatic bid into the postseason tournament a plus for the 2010 tournament
  
 
Conference Race Heats Up As Teams Near Halfway Point

CIT names Wallace to chair selection committee

Feb. 3, 2010

The Great West Conference Basketball race for the inaugural title is heating up as the teams near the halfway point.

South Dakota took a half game lead over second place Houston Baptist after getting two road wins last week. The Coyotes defeated the Huskies, 92-70, at Houston on Thursday and then squeaked by Texas-Pan American, 72-71, at Edinburg, Texas, on Saturday.

North Dakota picked up its second GWC win at Texas-Pan American on Thursday, 78-74, in a double-overtime thriller before heading to Houston to face the Huskies on Saturday. HBU defeated the Fighting Sioux, 75-65.

Chicago State got to enjoy its home court for the first time this conference season, and the Cougars pulled out a 43-41 win over Utah Valley, which experienced its first GWC road test of the year. The Wolverines then traveled to NJIT and fell to the Highlanders, 71-46.

Utah Valley will return home on Thursday and host Texas-Pan American. The game will be a special night for the Wolverines as former UVU standout and current Utah Jazz player Ronnie Price will be inducted into the Wolverines' Athletics Hall of Fame.

Chicago State will continue its homestand and host Houston Baptist on Thursday before the Huskies travel west to face Utah Valley on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, the Cougars will host Texas-Pan American, concluding the GWC contests for the week.

 RILEY WALLACE TO CHAIR CIT SELECTION COMMITTEE

BOSTON, Mass.-- The winningest coach in Hawaii history, Riley Wallace, has been named chairman of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) selection committee.

"I am very pleased to be working with CollegeInsider.com," said Wallace. "I think I speak for countless coaches when I say that CollegeInsider.com has been a major asset to the game of college basketball. This tournament was created to give deserving teams, which would otherwise be overlooked, a chance to compete for a postseason championship."

The CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament is a single-elimination men's Division I college basketball tournament. The CIT consists of five rounds, with all five rounds being played at on-campus sites. Those sites will be determined through a seeding process.

"Last year's tournament was a major success," said Wallace. "Bradley's 75-footer that beat Oakland will be the lasting moment, but there were a lot of highlights. The goal now is to make the 2010 tournament even better and we have already taken some steps in that direction."

One such step came last September with the announcement that the Great West Conference would receive an automatic bid to the CIT. The winner of the conference tournament final, which will be played on March 13, will be the first official entrant to the 2010 CIT.

"Giving the Great West an automatic is a great opportunity for the players, coaches and fans for the programs in that conference," said Wallace. "They are now afforded the same opportunity as teams from other small conferences. They can participate in postseason play."

Wallace will oversee the entire selection process, which includes an expanded committee of former coaches and administrators. Former DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright, former UCLA head coach Jim Harrick and former Southern University head coach Ben Jobe are among the new additions to the 17-member selection committee. The process will culminate with the announcement of the 16-team field on Sunday, March 14.

"The CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament is a really good thing for college basketball," said Wallace."

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