In many ways, hosting the NCAA D-II Central Regional men’s basketball tournament is second nature to Minnesota State Mankato athletic director Kevin Buisman.
He’s organized large-scale, high-profile tournaments a number of times before and this weekend’s affair is not much different. But while Buisman has the experience, a lot of details need to be taken care of before opening tipoff Saturday afternoon. It takes a number of qualified individuals to handle those details.
“This is not a one-person undertaking,” Buisman said this week. “It requires a lot of dedicated people to pull something like this off.
“We want the visiting teams and fans to leave town saying: ‘Hey, this was a well-run tournament. We had a real nice time in Mankato.’ If they’re not saying that, we haven’t done our jobs as well as we should have.”
Buisman has been the athletic director at MSU since 2002. Prior to that he was the associate athletic director at Division I Northern Iowa for 13 years.
At UNI, he helped organize numerous conference, regional and national tournaments — including the NCAA Division I National Wrestling Championships. He’s done the same at MSU, orchestrating a D-II national wrestling tournament in 2004 and the central regional women’s basketball tournament last winter.
“Having gone through all this last year with the women’s team is a big plus for us,” Buisman said. “A lot of things are still fresh in our memories.”
For ticket and other information about the March 13-16 men's regional tournament, go to http://www.msumavericks.com/sports/2010/2/28/GEN_0228101325.aspx?id=186
For the complete Free Press story, click on http://mankatofreepress.com/sports/x1745491268/Organization-key-to-hosting-regional-tourney
For more Free Press news go to www.mankatofreepress.com
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