Las Vegas girls’s event loses Dayton, Purdue, Texas A&M

LAS VEGAS — Three girls’s basketball groups have withdrawn from a Las Vegas event as a part of persevering with fallout from an identical occasion at a Strip resort over Thanksgiving weekend the place security considerations have been raised.

Dayton, Purdue and Texas A&M are out of the Las Vegas Vacation Hoops Basic at South Level Area. These faculties, in line with event operations supervisor Bret Seymour, had agreed to be additions to his event in coordination with officers from Vacation spot Basketball, which ran the Las Vegas Invitational final month at The Mirage.

“We’re all about giving our gamers the chance to play the sport they love,” Texas A&M coach Joni Taylor stated in an announcement. “Given the circumstances surrounding the Las Vegas Invitational, we determined to withdraw from the event. We’re very grateful to Purdue for being adaptable and for permitting us to host them” as a substitute.

The Las Vegas Invitational skilled many issues, together with not having medical personnel on web site, which resulted in Auburn freshman Kharyssa Richardson laying on the court docket for 50 minutes after falling laborious and showing to hit her head earlier than EMTs arrived.

Indiana coach Teri Moren thought of not enjoying after Richardson’s harm, however the now-No. 4 Hoosiers took the court docket and beat Memphis 79-64. Moren stated after the sport she thought girls’s basketball “had taken a few steps backwards” on account of event situations that additionally included followers sitting on folding chairs relatively than bleachers.

The Las Vegas Vacation Hoops Basic might be performed Dec. 19-21 and consists of Campbell, Cleveland State, Jacksonville State, Lindenwood and Utah Tech.

“The 5 groups which might be going to be on the South Level have been 5 groups we already had,” Seymour stated. “To be trustworthy, our different 5 are pleased they (the three that withdrew) aren’t there anymore as a result of they prefer it as a non-Energy 5 occasion. We took these three to assist. It is OK. It is actually truly higher for us as a result of they are not there this 12 months for that exact occasion.”

Sport Excursions Worldwide runs the South Level event in addition to two others in Las Vegas, and it has overseen occasions within the metropolis for 14 years.

Seymour stated the three Energy 5 groups found they’d be enjoying at South Level relatively than The Mirage and determined to withdraw.

“Vacation spot Basketball had the contracts with Purdue, Texas A&M and Dayton,” Seymour stated. “We didn’t. … We have been stunned they claimed they did not know.”