Tickets for NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament

Whittington

Georgetown coach John Thompson III said Tuesday that ''there is no specific timetable'' for Whittington's return.

The 6-foot-8 Whittington played in only 13 games last season for the Hoyas before being suspended for academic reasons. He averaged 12.1 points and 7.0 rebounds.

Thompson said, ''Greg will return when he is 100 percent healthy. I feel for Greg because he's worked extremely hard to prepare for the coming season, on and off the court. I'm confident this is just another setback that in the end will make him even stronger.''

TUCSON, Ariz. -- The University of Arizona's Board of Regents has approved a one-year contract extension for basketball coach Sean Miller through the 2017-18 season.

Miller's current contract increases yearly to $2.6 million in 2016-17, but he requested that the fifth year be the same as the fourth. He earned $2.2 million last season, along with numerous academic and performance bonuses.

Miller is entering his fifth season with Arizona after coaching five seasons at Xavier. He has twice led the Wildcats to the regional round of the NCAA tournament, including a trip to the Sweet 16 last season.
 

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The new American Athletic Conference will hold its first men's basketball tournament at the FedExForum in Memphis next March.

The tournament will be held March 12-15 with all games televised by ESPN's networks and the championship on ESPN.

FedExForum, which seats 18,400, is off historic Beale Street and home to the Memphis Grizzlies and the University of Memphis men's basketball team. The arena will host the NCAA tournament's South Regional two weeks after the American Athletic Conference tournament.

The announcement was made by Commissioner Mike Aresco, who lauded the tournament as a ''wonderful event that our teams, coaches, administrators and fans will embrace and enjoy.''

Memphis athletic director Tom Bowen called it an exciting day after a collaboration involving the arena, the university and city of Memphis.

''This is monumental and dynamic for this new conference,'' Bowen said. ''We believe it will be a great tournament for this city, our fans and for Tigers everywhere.''

Memphis coach Josh Pastner said all of the league's basketball coaches agreed at the conference meetings recently that the best place to hold a tournament was Memphis. He said even Louisville coach Rick Pitino called into the league meeting to endorse Memphis for the tournament.

''For all of the other coaches to say the best place to be is right here, that's just a rare credit to the fans,'' Pastner said in a statement.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Southeastern Conference has hired Dr. Robert ''Jake'' Bell as coordinator of men's basketball officials.

Commissioner Mike Slive announced the hiring of the veteran college basketball official and conference coordinator on Monday.

A longtime SEC official, Bell has officiated in several conference tournaments, the NCAA tournament and the NIT. He had served as coordinator of basketball officials for the Atlantic Sun Conference starting in 2006 and held that role in the Southern Atlantic Association last year.

He also worked as the coordinator of men's basketball officials for the Mid-South Conference from 1996-2000 and called this job ''a dream opportunity for me.''

Slive says Bell's hiring received support from each of the conference's 14 athletic directors and men's basketball coaches.

Bell replaces Gerald Boudreaux, whose contract was not renewed.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Pac-12 and Mountain West conferences are teaming up to collaborate on men's basketball officiating, putting longtime Mountain West coordinator Bobby Dibler in charge of the programs and managing a pool of top national and regional officials.

In announcing the officiating alliance Friday, the conferences said that the West Coast Conference, Big West Conference and Western Athletic Conference also will take part in the leagues' training programs.

''Our objective is to provide the best officiating program for our teams and student-athletes,'' Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said in a statement. ''Under this new alliance, we will be better positioned to attract top lead officials, and to achieve the greatest consistency and accountability deserving of our excellent basketball programs. This alliance also allows us to further develop a rigorous training, evaluation and development program for the next generation of elite officials.''

The Pac-12's system came under intense scrutiny during the conference tournament in March at Las Vegas, where former officiating coordinator Ed Rush had offered bounties -- $5,000 or a trip to Mexico -- for any official who disciplined Arizona coach Sean Miller. While Rush has said he wasn't serious and was ''jokingly'' trying to ''lighten the mood'' in the locker room, he resigned April 4.

Scott has been eager to swiftly move on from the issue, saying, ''I'm completely looking forward, not in the rearview mirror.'' He added that he intended to speak with Miller in person about the new leadership and direction of the Pac-12's officiating.

Scott fined Miller $25,000 for a rant -- he was hit with a technical -- during and after the Wildcats' two-point semifinal loss to UCLA in the conference tournament. The conference said Miller confronted an official on the floor, among other inappropriate actions.

Findings of an independent review by Indianapolis-based law firm Ice Miller LLP, released last weekend, supported the conference's handling of the situation this spring.

Scott called for a broad approach to improving officiating, rather than putting it all one person to coordinate.

''The Mountain West is very excited about this new venture with the Pac-12 Conference and the overall goal of improving men's basketball officiating in both leagues should be readily apparent,'' Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson said. ''Bobby Dibler has decades of experience and we are confident that he will aptly build one of the best staffs in the country.''

Dibler has served the past 14 years as officiating coordinator for the Mountain West and spent 1992-98 in the same role for the WAC. Previously, he worked 11 NCAA tournaments, three Final Fours, and several NITs during a 20-year officiating career.

To assist Dibler, the conferences said they will hire a deputy coordinator ''to support the evaluation and training functions of the program.'' A technology coordinator also will be put in place, along with game graders to evaluate all officials.

Dibler and his staff will hold a training clinic for all roster officials before this season -- with the WCC, Big West and WAC officials also taking part and ''furthering the impact of the collaboration on officiating in the western United States.''

''For our officials, this is great opportunity to improve their officiating skills, maximize their schedule and reduce travel,'' Dibler said. ''I look forward to establishing a top preseason training program and outlining a clear communications process between all our officials, the conferences, and our coaches.''