By Andrew Scurria
Senior Sports Editor
scurria@sas.upenn.edu
According to one local source, an in-season basketball tournament to be played over Thanksgiving weekend should be coming to the Palestra in the near future.
The Philadelphia Daily News reported on Friday that such an exempt tournament - so-called because the events include several games but only count as one towards each team's limit of 29 - is in the works and would consist of four games.
The opening contests would be played at the arenas of the participating schools, with the final two at the Palestra.
The report said that at least one school from the Philadelphia area would participate every year. There is no indication as to whether the tournament would begin this fall or in subsequent years.
A Penn athletic department spokesman said that virtually no other details were known at this time. The Philadelphia Sports Congress, which often assists in marketing the city as a venue for sporting events, also had no immediate knowledge but said that its president might.
Events like this, however, are often run by outside consulting firms. The Princeton, N.J.-based Gazelle Group, for example, organized and marketed the Black Coaches Invitational this year, in which the Quakers participated. Held at the beginning of the season, the tournament featured a round robin of six games at Syracuse's Carrier Dome and drew a diverse slate of teams - Texas-El Paso, Syracuse, St. Francis (NY) and Penn.
That, though, was at the state-of-the-art Carrier Dome.
The Palestra's viability as a venue for college basketball games has declined over the years. With a capacity of only 8,700, it cannot compete with larger arenas in hosting postseason games.
Most recently, the Sports Congress helped submit a bid for the Palestra to serve as a host site for the 2009 women's tournament, but the bid was turned down.
But such issues could be muted over Thanksgiving break, when student attendance is unlikely to be high either way.
Exempt tournaments are also increasing in popularity as a way for coaches to get an early look at their squads and play against a number of teams early in the season.
If no details change, the Palestra could also end up hosting more than two of the four tournament games. If Penn were to participate in the tournament, one of the opening-round games would also be played at the Palestra, in addition to the final pair.
