Basketball schools enjoy their time in the sun at holiday tournaments

Dayton brought its pep band, mascot and cheerleaders. Southern California didn’t bother to send a radio crew. Wichita State hosted 403 people for Thanksgiving dinner. Iowa’s crowd dipped noticeably on Friday because of its football game with Nebraska.

There are basketball schools and there are football schools. Nowhere is that difference more stark than in the eight-team field of the AdvoCare Invitational. These three games are foundational pieces of the 2015-16 seasons for traveling fans from Dayton, Wichita State and Xavier. They are a brief distraction from football for Alabama, Iowa, USC and Notre Dame, all of whom brought significantly fewer fans to the HP Field House.

“Dayton basketball — that’s what we do,” Flyers fan Jay Nigro said. “Being able to come to a tournament and support the team, get out of Dayton — Dayton’s freezing cold right now.”

Tournament directors notice, some more than others. When they assemble a field, they want strong teams, name brands and broad geographic appeal. They also like to sell tickets.

“There are a number of basketball-only schools that take great advantage of these multi-team tournaments,” said Pete Derzis, senior vice president of ESPN Events. “For their fans, it’s like a bowl trip. They turn out and do a great job of supporting their program.”

Dayton, Wichita State and Xavier offer tournaments the total package — national reputations, NCAA Tournament success and passionate fans with money to spend on a destination vacation.

“The fact they have, not only a quality program, but quality fan travel, that’s a winning margin,” Derzis said.

In recent seasons, Shockers fans traveled to Hawaii, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. WSU deputy athletic director Darron Boatright estimates around 600 fans are in Orlando.

“We try to go toward the sun,” Boatright said.

One estimate put the number of Dayton fans at around 4,000. Red-clad Flyers fans turned HP Field House into a clear home court, complete with mascot, band and cheerleaders.

“These games are everything to us,” Dayton athletic director Neil Sullivan said. “Our competitive performance is part of it, but how we travel and how we kind of try to take over the towns that we go to has a direct correlation to our ability to be invited.”

Wichita State’s reputation for traveling with the team helps it attract spots in top tournaments. More important is its success and growing national profile.

Tournaments operated by ESPN — which also include the Charleston Classic, Puerto Rico Tip-Off and Wooden Legacy — are less driven by ticket sales. Tournaments such as the Cancun Challenge and Battle 4 Atlantis take place on all-inclusive resorts and crowds matter. ESPN’s Diamond Head Classic, in Honolulu, relies on local attendance because of the distance and cost of traveling to Hawaii.

Fan support “is a consideration, especially with the tournaments that are non-ESPN affiliated,” Boatright said. “They’re looking to generate more revenue off crowd support.”

NCAA rules limit teams to one appearance in a particular tournament every four years. Derzis said that makes it difficult to stuff fields with basketball schools. He considers most Big Ten schools attractive, as well, because of their large alumni bases. Schools such as Kansas, Kentucky and Arizona are also well-known for filling seats.

Next season’s AdvoCare field is Iowa State, Stanford, MiamiFla.), Florida, Indiana State, Seton Hall, Gonzaga and Quinnipiac, a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference which hosts the event each season.

“We try to get a great blend,” Derzis said. “We try to do it more geographically and we’re also feeding a television need. We’re looking for teams that have had a lot of success. Teams that are on the upswing. If we have an ACC team, we may want to try to balance it and get an SEC school or a Big 12 or a Pac-12.”

WSU, Boatright said, is considering a return to the Cancun Challenge. It is also eligible to play in Kansas City’s CBE Classic, which it did in 2009 and 2013. Last week, Marshall said he didn’t like playing over Christmas last season in the Diamond Head Classic.

ESPN’s events are a priority, both because of the TV exposure and the good relationship that has developed. ESPN’s contract with the Missouri Valley Conference also helps get Valley schools in those tournaments. This season, Evansville is in the Wooden Legacy, Missouri State played in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off and Bradley in the Charleston Classic.

The Shockers will play in the Battle 4 Atlantis next season and the Maui Invitational in November 2017. Those are recognized as the top holiday tournaments and WSU will grab spots in those whenever possible. In 2010, WSU became the first MVC member to play in Maui.

“You make yourself available to the big, prestigious ones,” Boatright said. “You get in those when you can.”

On Wednesday, Derzis talked to Marshall about future tournaments. Charleston, where Marshall has coaching roots, was a specific topic.

“I can’t announce anything yet, because we haven’t finalized it,” Derzis said. “But I believe in the not-so-distant future, we’d love to have him in Charleston. He’s got a standing invite. Gregg has a standing invite to play in anything we have.”

This story was originally published November 28, 2015 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Basketball schools enjoy their time in the sun at holiday tournaments."