Saturday, March 14, 2009

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 14, 2009) - When the ETSU men's basketball team learns of its seed and its opponent in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, the entire nation will be watching.

In a cooperative effort between WJHL Newschannel 11 and the ETSU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, plans have been made for CBS to have a live feed at the Buccaneers' Sunday Selection Show Party at the Millennium Center across from Memorial Center. The party will begin at 4:30 p.m., with the CBS national broadcast set to begin at 6 p.m.

"This is very exciting for our players, our coaches, our program and our fans," said ETSU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Dave Mullins. "Only a select number of programs get the chance to be part of the CBS Selection Show in this way, and even though we expect a huge crowd already at the Millennium Center, we believe this will only bring more of our fans out Sunday evening. This will be a chance for our entire Buccaneer Nation to be in the national spotlight.

"We want to thank WJHL general manager Jack Dempsey, and their sports department of Kenny Hawkins and Kasey Marler for helping us make the contacts necessary to make this happen, while also providing the satellite truck and staff support to provide the feed to CBS."

The Buccaneers won the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship last week with an 85-68 win over Jacksonville, and will be making the program's eighth trip to March Madness. For more on the Bucs as they head toward their first round matchup, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball link.