College Basketball | ESPN, WCC may move "Big Monday" game night to Thursdays

ESPN and the West Coast Conference are in discussions that would move the WCC's weekly appearance on the network's "Big Monday" basketball lineup to Thursday nights, when it would compete with Pac-10 games on Fox Sports Net.

"We're still in conversations," said ESPN spokesman Mike Humes. "For both parties, it could be a win-win."

For three years, the WCC has been the finale of the Big Monday triple-header, fueled by national interest in Gonzaga. The Zags prefer a Thursday-Saturday playing format, believing it better for players, students and staff.

"I think our fans, coaches and staff will definitely embrace it," said Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth.

The move would create increased competition between the WCC and Pac-10 for game officials. They are independent contractors, some of whom have often worked a total of three Pac-10 and WCC games during any given Thursday-Saturday-Monday stretch.

Seattle dates set

KeyArena will host Washington State's and Gonzaga's annual appearances in Seattle on consecutive December Saturdays.

WSU's Hardwood Classic will be Dec. 13 against Montana State.

"I talked to every big school in the country, and nobody wants to play Washington State," said Northwest Sports and Entertainment promoter John Hines. "If there was one or two with a sliver of hope, the dates just didn't work out."

Hines has noted in the past that WSU is a tough team to find opponents for, both because of its rugged defensive style, and the fact it is 52-17 the past two seasons.

Yet the Cougars drew more than 12,000 for a game against The Citadel here last December, and Hines says, "I think we'll do fairly well. I think people want to see Washington State."

Gonzaga will play Connecticut in the Battle in Seattle on Dec. 20. UConn is expected to be ranked in the nation's top five nationally in the preseason.

Tourney draws ex-Huskies

Former Washington players Brandon Roy, Nate Robinson, Will Conroy, Tre Simmons, Doug Wrenn and Eldridge Recasner are scheduled to be among the participants at the annual "Rip the Cut" basketball tournament this weekend at Cleveland High School.

The tournament is a memorial for former Garfield High player Rahsaan "Rip" Phillips, who was killed in 1998, and serves as a fundraiser for his foundation that funds two $1,000 scholarships for minority students. Others scheduled to play in the tournament include Shawn Kemp, Aaron Brooks, Jamal Crawford, C.J. Giles and Tony Wroten Jr.

A team featuring Brooks kicks off action at 9 a.m. Saturday. A team with Robinson will play at 11 a.m. and a team led by Crawford, Roy and Wrenn is scheduled to play at noon. Admission is $8 per day.

Notes

• Both ESPN and Fox Sports have listed UW assistant coach Paul Fortier as one of four finalists for the head-coaching job at Brown, which came open when Craig Robinson left for Oregon State. Fortier, a former Huskies player, has been a UW assistant for three seasons. Before coming to UW, he was an assistant for two years at Cornell.

• Gonzaga is trying to put together a low-profile, four-team November tournament for its home arena, mostly featuring teams that would normally come for one-game guaranteed gates. Hines says WSU, which had been exploring a similar tournament for Pullman, now is looking into getting into one of the attractive early-season "exempt" tournaments.

• Zags center Josh Heytvelt, who struggled through the season and averaged 10.3 points and 4.9 rebounds, had a follow-up surgery on his troublesome foot earlier this spring. Heytvelt had an operation to insert screws into the foot last November, but "it never completely healed," Roth said. "One spot was healing really well, the other spot hadn't. The prognosis is very, very good."

• Gonzaga and Indiana are close to an agreement that would pit them in the Hall of Fame Classic in Indianapolis. In addition to games against Connecticut, Memphis and Tennessee, the Zags are also playing in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando Nov. 27-30, joined by Georgetown, Tennessee, Maryland and Michigan State, among others.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281. Times staff reporter Bob Condotta contributed to this article.