Women's Basketball Southern Conference

2002 Southern Conference Basketball Championships Host Committee Introduced; Logo Unveiled

CHARLESTON, SC - The leadership of the Host Committee for the 2002
Southern Conference Basketball Championships was introduced and the
tournament logo was unveiled during a press conference Thursday afternoon
at the North Charleston Coliseum.

The Championships, set for February 28 - March 3, will be held at
the North Charleston Coliseum and at The Citadel's McAlister Field House.
All games of the men's championship and the finals and semi-finals of the
women's championship will be at the Coliseum while the first two rounds of
the women's tournament will be at McAlister Field House. The men's
championship game will be televised nationally on ESPN, while the men's
quarterfinals and semifinals, along with the women's semifinals and finals
will be broadcast by College Sports Southeast (CSS).

The past two tournaments were held at the BI-LO Center in
Greenville, and prior to that, the championships were hosted by the
Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C. for four years.

Tommy Condon, a native Charlestonian and the owner of a successful
local restaurant that bears his name, was introduced as the Host
Committee's chairman, and Tom McQueeney, also a native Charlestonian and
the owner of a State Farm Insurance agency, serves as the Vice-Chairman and
Director of Ticket Sales.

The two unveiled the logo that will be used in all marketing
efforts for the championship's promotion. The logo features Mountain Dew,
the tournament's title sponsor, yet highlights the Charleston skyline of
church steeples and the Cooper River Bridges. The three-color logo, which
features the Mountain Dew colors, emphasizes a dark green that is used by
Charlestonians as a hospitality color. The logo was designed by Host
Communications, the marketing wing of the Southern Conference, with
significant input from the Host Committee.

Condon noted that two corporations have already signed up to serve
as Super Patrons for the tournament - CareAlliance Health Services and
State Farm Insurance. He added that the committee would have a maximum of
10 Super Patrons, each with exclusivity, and that additional patron levels
were being developed.

"The Charleston metro area is excited about hosting basketball championships of this magnitude," said Condon.
"We're excited about
providing a quality experience to the conferences' student-athletes and
coaches, but we're also sensitive to the desires of the fans.

"The Charleston area is a great destination site, and we, through
the efforts of this Host Committee, will do all we can to open our doors
and show our visitors and fans a great time," Condon added.

Preliminary estimates for the area's economic impact from the
four-day tournaments are $3 million.

The Host Committee is part of the Charleston Metro Sports Council,
and has been meeting regularly to help prepare for the championships, which
will make its first appearance in Charleston. Members of the Charleston
Metro Sports Council presented a bid to the Southern Conference's Directors
of Athletics in April, 1998. Charleston was awarded the 2002 and 2003
championship in February of 1999.

The Host Committee has also fostered a relationship with the
Greater Charleston Restaurant Association, which will serve as a
grass-roots effort for sales of ticket books.

Geoff Cabe, the conference's acting commissioner, emphasized that
the league's membership was excited about coming to Charleston.

"Charleston is a great area and I'm sure that the Charleston Metro
Sports Council will put on a great event for the entire Southern Conference
to enjoy," he said. "We (the conference) already have several
championships in Charleston this year in addition to basketball (men's
soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's tennis, women's
golf and baseball), and we're very happy that Charleston has evolved into a
Southern Conference area."

The Southern Conference features 12 schools that cover five
states. The schools include Appalachian State, College of Charleston, The
Citadel, Davidson, East Tennessee State, Furman, Georgia Southern, UNC
Greensboro, Chattanooga, VMI, Western Carolina and Wofford.