Vegas girls’s hoops tourney setup criticized

Indiana Hoosiers girls’s basketball coach Teri Moren stated Saturday that a chance was missed to showcase her No. 6-ranked, undefeated squad and different groups on the Las Vegas Invitational match this weekend due to a subpar setup for the occasion.

A web site coordinator for the occasion advised ESPN that he apologized to gamers, coaches, followers and referees in regards to the match situations, which have been mentioned on social media. The match was performed on a court docket in a big ballroom space at The Mirage lodge that had no stands for spectators. Chairs have been arrange across the court docket.

Moren confirmed that the positioning coordinator, Ryan Polk, did apologize.

“I feel there are different individuals who most likely have to apologize as effectively for wanting us to return and play on this occasion and making guarantees, if you’ll,” Moren stated. “This isn’t what was described to us a far as what the venue was going to seem like, what the setup was going to seem like.

“What was disappointing was the aesthetics; it isn’t a fan-friendly setting. As girls’s basketball coaches, we’re making an attempt to maneuver our recreation ahead. It felt like as a result of [this] acquired so many ticks on social, that we had taken a pair steps backwards. We now have an obligation to develop our recreation, and we utterly missed on this chance as a result of you may have a variety of actually good groups which can be right here. I see all these different tournaments occurring and photographs of that, however this was a significant miss.”

Indiana shared correspondence the varsity had in March with the match director, Bryce McKey, who advised the Hoosiers that the occasion could be arrange with a court docket much like what the Athletes Limitless skilled girls’s league in Las Vegas had earlier this yr. However it didn’t resemble that.

McKey was at one other match this weekend in Daytona, Florida. Polk stated the match organizers realized too late that the setup in Las Vegas wouldn’t be as much as par.

“We’re very sorry,” Polk stated. “The court docket and the lighting, that stuff hasn’t been a difficulty. However we wanted to have full-on bleachers. We now have notified The Mirage we cannot be coming again once more. It is a one-time catastrophe when it comes to occasions. It positively didn’t go the best way we thought or deliberate. We simply severely missed the mark when involves the spectator facet.”

One other problem arose Saturday evening on the match, although, when Auburn Tigers participant Kharyssa Richardson was injured after hitting the ground laborious whereas scrambling for a free ball. The sport was delayed practically an hour throughout the await her to get medical consideration. In response to the Auburn radio broadcast, it took greater than 40 minutes for paramedics to reach to the court docket.

“She was alert, she was attentive to the whole lot, so I actually imagine it is precautionary,” Auburn coach Johnnie Harris stated after the Tigers’ 74-73 win over the Colorado State Rams.

On Friday, Indiana standout Grace Berger sustained a knee damage, and he or she didn’t play in Saturday’s 79-64 victory over the Memphis Tigers.

Moren stated she had no points with the court docket itself and felt it had nothing to do with Berger’s damage. Nevertheless, she was involved on the size of time it took for Richardson to obtain medical care. The Hoosiers nonetheless determined to play after that, with their recreation beginning greater than an hour late.

“I do not learn a variety of social [media],” Moren stated. “However this notion that the ground … there isn’t any drawback with the ground. The damage to Grace didn’t occur due to the ground.

“[But] I feel any good match has EMT and all that, medical professionals, on web site. And as soon as once more that wasn’t the case. One other massive miss for this match. There have been a variety of issues that ought to have been higher, they usually simply weren’t. I used to be very pissed off having to observe that second for Auburn.”

Moren stated she did communicate Saturday to Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson, who needed to verify the crew thought the setting was secure to play in. She stated the Hoosiers did really feel secure, however the Auburn damage induced her some pause.

“We have performed in ballrooms earlier than,” Moren stated. “We have been within the Bahamas final yr: One other ballroom state of affairs however regarded far totally different than the ballroom we have performed within the final two nights. I do not need there to be the notion that enjoying in ballrooms is harmful. However on this explicit occasion, there have been a variety of issues that wanted to be higher.”

ESPN’s Alexa Philippou contributed to this story.