UC’s Williams: Indications are that Shootout will be played next year
02/20/12 at 1:11pm by
bkoch
UC president Greg Williams said Monday that a final decision has not been made on whether the men’s basketball game between UC and Xavier will be played next season, but “Every indication is that we are going to play next year.”
Williams said he has a group of advisors looking at “what the game should look like going forward” and that the group will make recommendations to him.
The Dec. 10 game between UC and Xavier, won by the Musketeers at XU’s Cintas Center, resulted in a bench-clearing brawl, with players from both teams getting suspended.
Williams said there’s no rush to make a decision.
“We’re looking at it,” he said. “(XU president) Father Graham and I have talked about it a number of times.”
Asked if any possible changes to the rivalry might include moving it to a neutral site, Williams said, “There’s been a lot of issues that need to be considered. I don’t want to pre-empt any recommendations that a committee might make.”
UC athletic director Whit Babcock said he has talked with Williams five or six times about the future of the game.
“We presented all the options and the pros and cons of it,” Babcock said. “It’s not something that we wanted to rush into, so we’ve just taken a little time. We need to work with Xavier on it. I think we’re getting to the point in the next month or so where we’ve got to make a decision and move forward from a scheduling standpoint. We’re looking to bring some more marquee opponents into Fifth Third (Arena). If Xavier was one of them, it would impact our schedule.”
Ultimately, Babcock said, the decision from UC’s standpoint will be made by Williams.
“We just talked about the need to bring some closure to this before too long,” Babcock said. “But there’s no deadline, no drop-dead date.”
If the game takes place next season, it’s due to be played at UC’s Fifth Third Arena unless it’s moved to a neutral site.
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