Stu Aberdeen set for October 17-18
Tournament changes date on its 25
Anniversary
For Release: October 10, 2003
(Wolfville,
NS) - A holiday tradition has now become a fall classic.
The annual Stu Aberdeen Memorial Tournament, in its 25th year, is in
memory of the late and great Acadia Basketball coach Stu Aberdeen.
Aberdeen, who coached the Axemen to a 122-50 record over his eight
seasons at Acadia, won a 1965 National championship while at the
helm of the Acadia men's basketball team.
The tournament,
traditionally set in early January - during the Christmas Holiday
season - will now be an integral part of the Acadia Homecoming
weekend this October 17-19. The tournament, which in its early years
was an eight team tournament set over a three-day period, was scaled
down to a two-day tournament with four teams that included the
Acadia Axemen. Past tournaments attracted some of the best teams in
the country and also teams from south of the border.
The move of the
tournament from January to October was done for several reasons.
"The tournament has been moved to the fall with the hopes to draw a
bigger crowd to the event since our student body is not around
during the Christmas Holidays," points out Acadia Head Coach Dave
Nutbrown. "It also becomes difficult to draw teams to the Aberdeen
tournament, since we have had to compete against a tournament in
Halifax at roughly the same time. UNB's Eric Garland Tournament is
also scheduled for the Christmas break."
This year's tournament
showcases the University of Maine - Fort Kent basketball program. A
member of the Sunrise Conference of the NAIA, the University of
Maine Bengals completed the regular season 18-11 and played in the
conference championship game under the helm of Head Coach and
Athletic Director Jim Graffam. The Bengals lost in the conference
finals against Husson College.
The Royal Military
College men's basketball team along with the Saint Mary's Huskies
will also be in attendance at this year's Stu Aberdeen Tournament.
RMC hopes to improve on their past season with only three seasons
under their belt in the Ontario University Athletics conference. The
Paladins hope to improve on their sixth place 6-16 record this
season with a veteran core of returning players.
The tournament is
named after a former coach at Acadia, Stu Aberdeen, a man who earned
the title, "Mr Basketball," and who gained respect wherever his
teams played.
Stu Aberdeen came to
Acadia University in 1958 as head basketball coach and as one of the
youngest men, at age 21, ever to lead a varsity team in Canada. Over
a period of eight years his Axemen teams won six consecutive
Conference championships, five Maritime championships, and the
National title in 1965, a feat considered by many to be practically
impossible for a university with a full-time enrollment of 1265. In
his last six seasons, coach Aberdeen posted a combined 85-8 record
for a 122-50 overall total. Small, at 5'5", but mighty, he was the
National Coach-of-the-Year in 1965 and his streak of 42 consecutive
wins remains a Canadian collegiate record.
Prior to his departure
from Acadia, coach Aberdeen was instrumental in planning the
university's new War Memorial Gymnasium, one of the top basketball
facilities in Canada at the time. He was co-founder of the Bluenose
Classic Tournament, served one year as Canada's national team coach,
and was a key figure in the establishment of national
intercollegiate championship basketball in Canada.
Coach Aberdeen left
Acadia in 1966 to begin an 11-year stint as Associate Coach at the
University of Tennessee. In 1977 he accepted an offer and challenge
from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. He passed
away suddenly on June 11, 1979. His widow, Lynn, lives in Tennessee
and their children reside in the U.S.A.
-30-
For more information contact:
Sheri Woodland
Communications Manager
Office of Public Affairs
Acadia University
(902) 585-1362
Acadia
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