Sept. 8, 2004
Georgia Tech head basketball coach Paul Hewitt is among four of the nation’s top young coaches will appear at the inaugural Basketball Coaches Forum Luncheon on Oct. 6 at the University of South Alabama Mitchell Center.
The event, presented by Bellsouth Yellow Pages, Coastal Ford, The Mitchell Company, SouthTrust Bank and WNSP Sports Radio 105.5 FM, will be conducted by ESPN SportsCenter’s Rece Davis and feature Hewitt along with Mark Gottfried of the Alabama Crimson Tide, Jeff Lebo of the Auburn Tigers and John Pelphrey of the South Alabama Jaguars. Comcast Sports Southeast (channel 45 on Comcast cable in the Atlanta area) will televise the one-hour, 30-minute forum on a tape-delayed basis at a later date.
Individual tickets are $30 for the event. A table of eight can be purchased for $300.
“We are trying to create interest for the upcoming basketball season,” said USA Athletics Director Joe Gottfried. “With the speakers we have, it is an opportunity for college basketball fans to get a preview of four regional teams and the overall outlook on the national scene. We are excited with the caliber of coaches speaking, and thrilled to have ESPN’s Rece Davis as emcee. I would like to also thank the five companies that are co-sponsoring the event.”
Hewitt enters his fifth season at Georgia Tech with a record of 76-54 after an appearance in the 2004 NCAA championship game. Hewitt has been a head coach in the collegiate ranks the past seven seasons. After spending three successful seasons at Siena College (1998-2000), Hewitt took over the Yellow Jacket program in 2000 and guided the team to an appearance in the NCAA West Regional. Three seasons later, he led Georgia Tech to an appearance in the national championship game against Connecticut. Hewitt spent nine seasons as an assistant coach for four different programs.
Gottfried, a Mobile native who attended UMS Wright Preparatory School and the son of USA Athletics Director Joe Gottfried, led Alabama to its highest NCAA Tournament finish last spring with an Elite Eight appearance. Lebo begins his first year at Auburn after spending the last two years at Tennessee-Chattanooga. Pelphrey begins his third season as Jaguar coach after leading USA to a berth in last March’s Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for Mobile and the university to have a basketball forum,” said USA coach John Pelphrey. “This is going to be a great panel. To have it at our facility is going to be great. You have some big college basketball names taking part to kick off the basketball season. It’s going to be a treat for all college basketball fans.” For addition information, contact USA Assistant Athletics Director John Goodroe at (251) 461-1366.
