Butler invites high school teams to play at Hinkle, NCAA says "not so fast"

NCAA regulations being what they are, it's not surprising that something like this would happen.
Playing at Hinkle would have been a thrill for those players. It's where the IHSAA state finals were when Milan won in 1954. It's where the final scene in Hoosiers was shot (a movie that many people in Indiana are obsessed with, especially in Boone County which is where two of the participating schools are from). But hey, the NCAA prevented Butler from having a recruiting edge, and that's all that matters, right.

http://www.journalreview.com/sports/article_7c24741c-22f1-11e1-a1ba-001871e3ce6c.html

 

I could've sworn Maryland's state tournament was hosted in the Comcast Center, University of Maryland's home arena in College Park.

 

yeah, the state associations are exempt. So if you reach the state finals, you can play there, but if you don't, you can't.

 

What a shame. Some of my best memories from high school were attending the Hinkle semi-state. That place was amazing for high school games.

 

The rule doesn't affect state tournament games.

The rule targeted the growing number of AAU tournaments on college campuses, and that AAU tournament organizers were trying to extort all sorts of perks so the home arena coach could get the games and, as a result, be able to showcase his facilities and program.

The rule swept up high school regular-season tournaments in the wash, many of which have been played for years. A Thanksgiving tournament at Rupp got last-minute word that Kentucky could be in violation if the games went on, so it was moved to Lexington Christian Academy. A bunch of tournaments nationwide ended up quickly changing plans. The one at Butler is the only I've heard that was cancelled.

 

How in the world is this "nonscholastic"?

 

Because it was organized by a third-party company, which seems to be a growing development in the high school sports world.

 

As Bob said, the same thing happened at Kentucky. The Sweet 16 is held there each year, but the NCAA said no regular-season tourneys could be played in Rupp.

 

The Hinkle postseason experience hasn't been the same since the "real" Hinkle Sectional, Regional and Semistate disappeared long ago, even before class sports came into being. The sectional was moved to North Central or Lawrence North at some point right before class sports began.

Hinkle itself isn't the same (though still great) after it was remodeled in the early 90s. It was a rite of passage to have to go under the bleachers and fetch your coat after it fell through, or, perhaps, to do other things.

Even then, it was reserved only for schools in the northeast quadrant of Indy. I believe some combination of Lawrence North, Lawrence Central, North Central, Broad Ripple, Chatard, Cathedral, Arlington and Tech were in it when I was in high school.

As a student in 1989, I was able to storm the court several times at Hinkle when my high school (Lawrence North) went on to win the state championship (before they started recruiting in earnest ... hi Bob Cook and crimsonace!).

To this day, the final shot and fan reaction in Hoosiers hits me like a brick because I've actually done that. Most memorably in the Hinkle Regional that year, when a Todd Richards buzzer-beater knocked out Alan Henderson's Brebeuf team in the championship game. The only difference between that game-winner and Jimmy Chitwood's from the movie is that Richards hit his on the other end of the court. But it was from the same spot on the floor.

Got to love Hinkle, but I do detest these third-party tournaments, so I don't really weep for these teams.

 

Butler appears to have woke up and realized they are Butler, which is good as it means we likely won't have to worry about them ruining another Final Four with there boring, ugly brand of muck it up goon basketball.

 

It would be amazing to play in a meaningless tournament at Hinkle.

 

One of the papers I used to work for put on a Holiday tournament played at the local D-III gym. So is that against NCAA rules now too, or is it just a D-I thing?