Norfolk - The basketballs are bouncing once again on the ODU Ted Constant Convocation Center hardwood and it’s time for some “Hoop Talk at the Ted” to tip-off the season.
Monarch fans, students and friends are invited to join Monarch radio hosts Ted Alexander and Dave Twardzik, along with head coaches Jeff Jones and Karen Barefoot on Monday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. in the Big Blue Room to talk hoops with some of the top names in college basketball.
Joining the discussion via live streaming will be Jeff Goodman, ESPN writer and basketball blogger; Kara Lawson, ESPN women’s basketball studio host and WNBA star for the Washington Mystics; Dan Gavitt, the director of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship; Dru Hancock, chair of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Committee and associate commissioner of the Big 12 Conference, and AAU pioneer Boo Williams, who will join the panel discussion live at the Constant Center.
The 90-minute event is free and open to all Monarch fans and students in the Big Blue Room at the Constant Center. Complimentary drinks and snacks will be available and adult beverages can be purchased at the event. Fans are asked to RSVP on their attendance at www.odusports.com/events and use the code HOOPS.
The Monarchs return four starters off last year’s 18-16 squad that earned the distinction of being the best turnaround program in the nation after posting five wins the year before. Under the leadership of then first-year coach Jeff Jones, the Monarchs earned a bid to the CBI post season invitational last season. ODU’s tips off its 2014-15 season on Nov. 15 at home against UNC Wilmington, and then hosts state rivals Richmond on Nov. 18 and VCU on Nov. 29.
Karen Barefoot’s Lady Monarchs return three starters from last year’s team that won 18 games and earned a WNIT post season bid. The women open the season at home on Nov. 14 vs. Presbyterian, host national power Duke on Nov. 20, and entertain former CAA rival VCU on Dec. 5.
Bios for each of the national speakers are below. For more information on the event, please contact the Athletic Public Relations office at 757 683 3372, or go to www.odusports.com.
Kara Lawson
A native of Alexandria, Virginia, Kara burst onto the national stage in 1999 when as a high school senior she was named MVP of the WBCA High School All-American game. At the University of Tennessee, Kara excelled both on and off the court. Lawson led the Lady Vols to NCAA Women’s Final Four appearances in 2000, 2002, and 2003.
Kara was selected 5th overall in the WNBA Draft by the Detroit Shock. Shortly afterwards, she was traded to the Sacramento Monarchs. In 2008, she headed to Beijing and helped the USA win an Olympic gold medal, shooting a perfect 5 of 5 from the field and leading the team in scoring in the gold medal game.
After the Sacramento Monarchs shutdown operations after the 2009 season, Kara signed a 3-year deal with the Connecticut Sun. She currently plays for the Washington Mystics. Lawson joined ESPN in 2004 as a women's college basketball analyst and in the years following, she has established herself as the premier voice in women’s basketball analysis, primarily serving as a studio analyst during the NCAA regular and postseason.
Dan Gavitt
The son of late Big East founder Dave Gavitt, Dan is the NCAA Vice President in charge of the annual men’s basketball tournament. Prior to his hiring in 2014, Gavitt spent the past seven years as the associate commissioner for men’s basketball at the Big East conference.
While in that role, he ran the Big East men's tourney at one of basketball's meccas, Madison Square Garden. From 1999-2005, he served as athletic director at Bryant University and previously served as president of Craigville Sports Associates, a marketing and public relations firm. A 1988 graduate of Dartmouth College, he earned an MBA from Providence College in 1995 while serving as an assistant basketball coach with the Friars.
Jeff Goodman -
The Boston native, who has worked for the Associated Press, Scout.com, FoxSports.com, CBSSports.com, and now ESPN, fell in love with journalism and with college basketball during his studies at the University of Arizona.
A 1994 graduate of Arizona, Goodman served as the senior basketball writer for FoxSports.com from 2006-2011, and for CBS Sports from 2011-2013. Jeff, who is quite active on Twitter (@GoodmanESPN), joined ESPN as a college basketball insider in 2013. Prior to joining Fox Sports, he covered the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, Bruins and college sports for the Associated Press, USA Today and Washington Post. Jeff also contributed to the Boston Herald.
Dru Hancock
Hancock is an original member of the Big 12 Conference staff and was elevated to her current position of senior associate commissioner in February 2008. Her responsibilities include oversight of 13 league championships, as well as the departments of academics, governance and compliance. She was the tournament director for the 1998 Women's Final Four that the Big 12 hosted in Kansas City.
Prior to joining the Big 12, Hancock served two years with the Big Eight Conference as assistant commissioner/senior woman administrator and the previous 10 years in athletic and academic administration at Tennessee. She is the current chair of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Committee.
Boo Williams
A basketball star at Hampton’s Phoebus High School, Marcellus Spencer “Boo” Williams, Jr., left for Philadelphia to become a college standout at Saint Joseph’s University. After playing professional basketball in Europe, Williams returned to Hampton to work as an insurance agent. Inspired by a Philadelphia youth basketball league, in 1982 he created the Boo Williams Summer League with only $400 and forty-six players. The league, now known as the Boo Williams Nike Invitational, has grown to more than 200 teams and more than 2,000 male and female participants from across the country.
Envisioning a major youth sports facility for Hampton, in 2008 he opened the Boo Williams Sportsplex, a 135,000-square-foot, 4,000-seat, $13.5 million facility with eight basketball courts, twelve volleyball courts, eight indoor hockey fields, and an indoor track and field.
Operating what the Philadelphia Inquirer has called “the nation’s premier youth organization,” Williams has been the AAU chairman of Boys Basketball and a member of the USA/ABA Cadet Committee for Development of Future Olympians.