BELOW IS THE SUMMARY AND COMMENTS FROM THE AIA BASKETBALL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD YESTERDAY THAT WAS SENT TO ME BY COACH FAZIO (AGENDA AND PROPOSALS LINKED BELOW - and I did not call those guys knuckleheads - Coach Fazio did!):
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Todd pretty much summed it up. The only thing that I will add is that the Basketball Advisory Committee did in fact send a recommendation in to the Executive board saying that we are 100 percent in favor of the Division I proposal. The next executive board meeting is April 20th. Whether they will look at the committee's recommendation at this time and vote on it or wait until we sit down and talk with Dr. Slemmer about it on April 23rd is yet to be determined? All the best!
Mark Nold
Head Mens Basketball Coach
Chandler High School
Subject: AIA Basketball Advisory Committee Meeting - Update
Hi Coaches -
I want to fill you in with what was discussed in the Basketball Advisory meeting yesterday. The meeting went as well as it could have. We are cautiously optimistic about it...
The meeting agenda is attached.
In attendance:
Ron Halbach: AIA
Michael Fowler: Committee Chair (Higley District AD)
Steve McDowell: Committee (Gilbert District AD)
Mark Nold: Committee (Chandler HS, Boys Basketball)
Ron Honsinger: Committee (Mogollon HS, Principal)
Lonnie Tvurdy: Committee (Pusch Ridge Christian, Athletic Director)
Julia Six: Committee (Valley HS, Girls Basketball)
Other Knuckleheads also in attendance:
Mark Wood, Liberty HS, Boys Basketball
Gary Ernst, Mountain View HS, Boys Basketball
Charlie Wilde, Pinnacle HS, Boys Basketball
Matt Hooten, Brophy Prep, Boys Basketball
Todd Fazio, Red Mountain HS, Boys Basketball
Shane Burcar, Mesa HS, Boys Basketball
Rick McConnell, Dobson HS, Boys Basketball
Stephen Moss, Xavier College Prep, Girls Basketball
The committee went over each division for girls and boys basketball and what the state playoffs would look like with the 30% rule. The playoffs cannot be less than 12 teams. So for Division 1 girls with 23 teams, 30% is 6.9. Boys (27 teams) is 8.1. However, the least amount of teams that would qualify for the state tournament is 12. So, as it stands right now, 12 teams will qualify for the state tournament.
The committee allowed us to present our proposal. Since we have not met with Harold Slemmer yet, the committee could not vote on the proposal but we could have a "discussion" about it. We are meeting with Dr. Slemmer on April 23rd.
State Tournament: We presented our proposal of 100% participation in the state tournament. The main reason that came up for this, is that many schools petitioned down, and were granted to be placed in a lower division. That was not the case in other divisions. This makes Division 1 unique. Schools that did not decide to run away from the competition should not be punished. All of the committee members were in favor of the proposal.
Sectional Tournament: In our original proposal, we had 3 sectional tournaments, with top 8 in each section (all 7 in girls sections) to be played at higher seed. Power points remain the same throughout the sectional tournament for seeding for the state tournament. All of the committee members were in favor of the proposal. It was not explained why they might be looking to eliminate sectional tournaments for Division 1 and 2 as it states in the agenda.
Game Days: We briefly discussed the importance of getting back to Tuesday/Friday games. The committee agreed but not much came from that.
Overall, the meeting went as well as it could. Like I said, we walked away feeling cautiously optimistic. We still need to meet with Harold Slemmer about it and it still needs to be voted on by the Basketball Sport Advisory Committee (which they all were in support of yesterday) and the Executive Board, which is the big one. So there is still quite a bit of grass to mow.
It is important to note that Mr. Honsinger, Mr. Tvurdy, and Ms. Six, all small school reps were in support of this. They all stated that if that is what Division 1 needs to do, we are in full support. There wasn't a small school vs. large school undertone at all...which hasn't always been the case. We are very lucky to have the committee members that are on there!
Mark Nold and Mark Wood - please add anything that I missed or messed up!
We will keep you all in the loop as we move forward.
Thanks -
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Todd Fazio
Head Boys Basketball Coach
Red Mountain High School
Website: www.mpsaz.org/rmhs/athletics/programs/boysball[/B]
Twitter: RMCoachFazio
AIA Basketball Agenda 04.09.2105
