SWAC Moves Conference Basketball Tournament to Garland, TX
Written by HBCU Digest, Posted in Headlines, Sports, SWAC Basketball Tournament
For the third time in three years, the SWAC Basketball Tournament will be played in a new host city. The conference today announced that its Council of Presidents and Chancellors voted to move the tournament to the Special Events Center in Garland, TX. The Dallas Metro area will host the SWAC through 2013. From the release:
“We look forward to working with the Special Events Center in Garland over the next three years to develop the SWAC Basketball Tournament into more than just a basketball tournament, but a total entertainment and destination event,” SWAC Commissioner Duer Sharp said. ”The league is thankful to the cities that submitted bids and optimistic about the growing relationship between the league office and the Special Events Center, the Garland Independent School District, the city of Garland, and surrounding cities.”
The SWAC said that it solicited proposals from more than 15 cities in its regional imprint across Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas.
I live in Garland, and Andre is absolutely correct. The Southern Univeristy Alumni Federation – Dallas chapter is on board with this and are looking forward to welcoming everyone to Garland. The Dallas Metroplex Council of Black Alumni Associations is composed of HBCUs with active alumni chapters in the Dallas area. All member schools support each other and will welcome the SWAC tournament to Garland with open arms. The DFW metroplex has a large African American poplulation. HBCUs need the exposure. This will be a win/win for all involved.
In reponse to the previous comment, i agree that Garland,Texas has a population of 200,000 with 13% black population, but that’s just Garland,Texas alone and you may also want to consider other cities in the Dallas Metro area with a higher African American population such as Lancaster, DeSoto, Cedar Hill, or even Duncanville just to name a few. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex but not only that there’s a very big population of African Americans between the two cities but also there are many SWAC Alumni Associations here too, maybe is why SWAC has chosen Garland,Texas. (Everything’s bigger in Texas and so are the black population)
I find this absolutely appalling. SWAC continues to not take basketball serious. Its truly unfortunate given its a revenue sport. Why are you having a basketball tournament in a city with only 200,000 pop? And only a 13% African American population. Makes no sense.