In my personal view, Indianapolis is as good a host city as there is for the men’s Final Four. The walkability, hotels, convention center and stadium are an awesome combination for an event of this magnitude — and the weekend’s party circuit reflected as much.
Thursday night, SeventySix Capital Managing Partner Wayne Kimmel hosted people from in and around the college sports industry. Those at gathering included National Association of Basketball Coaches Executive Director Craig Robinson, Delaware State AD Tony Tucker, Hawaii booster Michael Kawazoe, Scout CEO Michael Haddix, NJIT AD Lenny Kaplan, Sports Tech HQ execs Jeff Hintz, Brian Alkire and Wyatt Wells, along with Purdue Fort Wayne men’s basketball coach Jon Coffman, among others.
Next Level Sports also hosted dozens of senior industry people Thursday evening. I ran into at least a half-dozen athletic directors, a handful of consultants and a number of other people who do work in and around the industry.
Friday morning brought the first ever CBS-TNT Sports, Tech and Innovation Summit. CBS’ David Berson and TNT’s Luis Silberwasser were both in attendance, as were speakers Mark Cuban and Andreessen Horowitz General Partner Jeff Jordan. Other dignitaries in attendance included Commissioners Keith Gill (Sun Belt), Robin Harris (Ivy), Jennifer Heppel (Patriot), Bernadette McGlade (Atlantic-10), Judy MacLeod (C-USA), Michael Cross (Southern Conference), Joe D’Antonio (Coastal Athletic Association) and Tom Wistrcill (Big Sky). ADs Lee Reed (Georgetown) and Greg Byrne (Alabama), both members of the NCAA men’s basketball selection committee, were also in attendance, along with Playfly Sports Properties President Christy Hedgpeth.
Learfield also hosted its annual get together at the men’s Final Four on Friday night. The event, held at the Heirloom at N.K. Hurst, featured a slew of power brokers from around the industry. Those in attendance included ADs Michael Alford (Florida State), Tom Theodorakis (Army), Nathan Pine (Air Force), Damon Evans (SMU), Gene Taylor (Kansas State) and Ed Scott (Memphis). New Providence men’s basketball coach Bryan Hodgson — who was hired at Arkansas State by Learfield EVP Jeff Purinton — also swung through.
The Final Four also serves as a massive gathering of men’s basketball coaches, while plenty made their way to the games on Saturday and Monday night. Saturday’s semifinal between Illinois and UConn saw Mark Few (Gonzaga), Nate Oats (Alabama), Brian Dutcher (San Diego State), Chris Beard (Ole Miss) and Jamie Dixon (TCU) sitting front row behind the press. Ex-Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim and longtime colleague Tubby Smith attended Saturday and Monday night’s contests, while former Michigan coach John Beilein was there to see the Wolverines’ hoist the championship trophy.