00                       HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 8                                                                     
01 Relating to supporting the Great Alaska Shootout, the Top of the World Classic, and                                     
02 similar preseason basketball tournaments, and requesting that the National Collegiate                                   
03 Athletic Association reject legislative proposal No. 2000-106.                                                          
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05       WHEREAS the University of Alaska Anchorage's Great Alaska Shootout basketball                                   
06 tournament and the University of Alaska's Top of the World Classic basketball tournament                                
07 are two of the premier early or preseason basketball tournaments for National Collegiate                                
08 Athletic Association (NCAA) member schools; and                                                                         
09       WHEREAS the Great Alaska Shootout began in 1978 and, throughout the past 22                                     
10 years, has been the host to over 4,860 male and female student athletes who similarly have                              
11 been exposed to the unique culture and experience of Alaska while interacting with the people                           
12 of Alaska; and                                                                                                          
13       WHEREAS the Top of the World Classic began in 1996 and provides students in                                     
14 Fairbanks with the opportunity to meet student athletes from schools participating in the                               
15 classic and to interact with positive role models from different areas of the country and                               

01 different backgrounds while also exposing the student athletes to the unique culture and                                
02 experience of Alaska; recently British Petroleum became the prime sponsor for the event; and                            
03       WHEREAS the Great Alaska Shootout and the Top of the World Classic provide an                                   
04 opportunity for Alaska's intercollegiate athletic teams to be exposed to and compete against                            
05 Division I schools while providing Alaska elementary and secondary school students the                                  
06 opportunity to personally witness topflight intercollegiate athletic competition; and                                   
07       WHEREAS the Great Alaska Shootout and the Top of the World Classic have                                         
08 become a tradition in their respective communities, if not in all of Alaska, and create a strong                        
09 sense of community excitement and participation while providing a needed boost to the local                             
10 economy; and                                                                                                            
11       WHEREAS the Great Alaska Shootout and the Top of the World Classic, along with                                  
12 tournaments such as the Black Coaches Association Classic, the Tip Off Classic, the Maui                                
13 Invitational, Coaches Against Cancer, and other tournaments conducted in Hawaii, Puerto                                 
14 Rico, and other locales, are classified as "exempt" tournaments under current NCAA                                      
15 regulations, which means that the games played at these tournaments do not count towards the                            
16 28-basketball-game limit that each NCAA Division I member may schedule each year; and                                   
17       WHEREAS, on October 25 - 26, 2000, the NCAA Division I Management Council                                       
18 adopted legislative proposal No. 2000-106, which would limit NCAA Division I member                                     
19 institutions to 29 basketball games and one exhibition contest or scrimmage each year and                               
20 would eliminate the exemption for games played at basketball tournaments such as the Great                              
21 Alaska Shootout and the Top of the World Classic, thereby eliminating the incentive for a                               
22 NCAA member institution to participate in these tournaments; and                                                        
23       WHEREAS the NCAA Division I Management Council and Board of Directors are                                       
24 scheduled to consider legislative proposal No. 2000-106 in April 2001;                                                  
25       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges that the NCAA Division I                                 
26 Management Council and Board of Directors recognize the positive contribution that                                      
27 tournaments such as the Great Alaska Shootout and the Top of the World Classic make to the                              
28 lives and experiences of the student athletes who participate in the tournaments and to the                             
29 communities that sponsor the tournaments; and be it                                                                     
30       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the NCAA Division                                      
31 I Management Council and Board of Directors to reject legislative proposal No. 2000-106;                                

01 and to and be it                                                                                                        
02       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges all NCAA member                                        
03 institutions that have participated in the Great Alaska Shootout or the Top of the World                                
04 Classic, their coaches, and their students to contact their conference officials and the members                        
05 of the NCAA Division I Management Council and Board of Directors to urge the rejection of                               
06 legislative proposal No. 2000-106.                                                                                      
07       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Tony Knowles, Governor of                              
08 Alaska; the Honorable Mark Hamilton, President of the University of Alaska; Cedric                                      
09 Dempsey, President of the NCAA; Dave Schnase, National Office, NCAA; John T. Casteen                                    
10 III, University of Virginia, Kenneth A. Shaw, Syracuse University, Graham B. Spanier,                                   
11 Pennsylvania State University, Robert Hemenway, University of Kansas, V. Lane Rawlins,                                  
12 University of Memphis, David B. Frohnmayer, University of Oregon, Charles Wethington,                                   
13 University of Kentucky, Robert Lawless, University of Tulsa, Carol Cartwright, Kent State                               
14 University, Milton Gordon, California State University-Fullerton, Dr. Carol Harter,                                     
15 University of Nevada-Las Vegas, members of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors;                                      
16 Arthur W. Cooper, North Carolina State University, Deborah A. Yow, University of                                        
17 Maryland, Ron Wellman, Wake Forest University, Patricia Thomas, Georgetown University,                                  
18 Gene DeFilippo, Boston College, Stan Wilcox, Big East Conference, Percy Bates, University                               
19 of Michigan, Ellen Perry, Pennsylvania State University, Clarence Doninger, Indiana                                     
20 University, Gerald Lage, Oklahoma State University, Eugene D.  Smith, Iowa State                                        
21 University, Chris Plonsky, University of Texas, Michael L. Slive, Conference USA, Kathryn                               
22 Statz, Marquette University, Tom Jurich, Louisville University, Edward (Ted) Leland,                                    
23 Stanford University, Betsy Stephenson, University of California-Los Angeles, Robert                                     
24 Aronson, University of Washington, Kathy De Boer, University of Kentucky, Jeremy N.                                     
25 Foley, University of Florida, Damon Evans, University of Georgia, Karl D.  Benson, Western                              
26 Athletic Conference, Andrea Seger, Ball State University, Angela D. Taylor, University of                               
27 Nevada-Reno, Chris Hill, University of Utah; members of the NCAA Division I Management                                  
28 Council; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S.                                       
29 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.  Representative, members of the Alaska                                      
30 delegation in Congress.