WAC moving basketball tournaments to Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS — The Western Athletic Conference today announced that the 2011 and 2012 WAC Basketball Tournaments will be held at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

"We are extremely excited about bringing the WAC's most prestigious event back to the city of Las Vegas and the Orleans Arena," said WAC Commissioner Karl Benson. "Over the last couple of years, it has become more critical and important to find a neutral site to satisfy the concerns of our men's and women's coaches. WAC fans have shown that they enjoy traveling to Las Vegas and I am certain the Orleans Arena will create a great tournament atmosphere."

The 2011 WAC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament will be held March 9-12 and will include the top eight teams in the regular-season standings.

"WAC head basketball coaches have been pushing for a neutral site for a number of years," said Utah State men's head coach Stew Morrill. "Las Vegas will be an exciting location, The Orleans is a great venue, and most importantly no team will have home court advantage."

Raegan Pebley-Utah State women

"Moving the WAC tourney to the Orleans in Las Vegas is a great opportunity to enhance WAC student-athletes' and fans' experiences," USU women's basketball coach Raegan Pebley. What a fun week that will be. Great basketball and great fans combined with a great facility and city. We appreciate Karl Benson and his staff as well as all of the university presidents and administrators support in moving the WAC basketball tournament to a neutral site. While Reno and Las Cruces have been excellent hosts, this move is something that both coaches and student-athletes felt important in creating a quality event for all parties involved."

The move to a neutral site was approved by the WAC Board of Directors which is currently chaired by the President of the University of Nevada, Milton Glick.

"We were delighted to have been selected to host the 2009 and 2010 tournaments in Reno in partnership with the Reno Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority," said Glick. "However, more tournaments are moving to neutral locations. The decision to move the 2011 WAC Basketball Tournament to Las Vegas is positive for the fans, the conference and the tournament. All of the WAC university presidents and athletic directors toured the Orleans Arena and believe it will be an excellent facility which will attract our fan base to attend the tournament.""