Jan. 10, 2012. Louisville, KY. – The Kentucky Derby Festival Basketball Classic, presented by papajohns.com, originally scheduled for Sunday, April 22, at the KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville, will return to Freedom Hall due to a recently adopted bylaw by the NCAA. The newly adopted bylaw prohibits non-scholastic events from being played on a collegiate campus or main practice/playing facility. NCAA Bylaw 13.11.1.8, which was proposed in 2009 and adopted in April, 2011, states that a Division I school isn't allowed to host, sponsor or conduct a non-scholastic basketball practice or competition. Because the University of Louisville mens' basketball team plays and practices at the KFC Yum! Center, the Derby Festival Basketball Classic cannot be held at that facility.
"While we had a great experience last year at the YUM! Center, we are fortunate in this community to have a facility such as Freedom Hall to host our game," said Mike Berry, President & CEO of the Kentucky Derby Festival. "Freedom Hall had been the primary location of the Basketball Classic for more than 35 years, and we are enthusiastic about returning to this facility, which has a rich history in Louisville." Berry said the new date of the game will be Friday, April 6, 2012, with Night of the Future Stars to be held on Thursday, April 5.
Tickets for both will be on sale starting Wednesday, January 18, on Ticketmaster.com, at all Ticketmaster locations as well as the Kentucky Exposition Center box office.
Contributing sponsors to the Kentucky Derby Festival Basketball Classic are Norton Sports Health and Reebok.
The Kentucky Derby Festival Basketball Classic is the oldest high school All-Star basketball game in the country, being first held in 1973. Over the years, the game has featured such future professional standouts as Jamal Mashburn, Moses Malone, Rex Chapman, Pervis Ellison, Isiah Thomas, Dominique Wilkins, Darrell Griffith, Derek Anderson, Anfernee Hardaway, Michael Beasley, Quentin Richardson, Zach Randolph, Jared Jeffries, Deron Williams and Francisco Garcia. The 1987 Basketball Classic set an attendance record for the event, attracting a sell-out crowd of 19,041 spectators to Freedom Hall and raising more than $78,000 for the Louisville Ronald McDonald House.
Official release from Kentucky Derby Festival
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2012 WorldNow and WAVE, a Raycom Media Station. 