Officials from The Nederlander Co. LLC are expected to meet today in Chicago with Conference USA commissioner Mike Slive to discuss the company's interest in playing the 2002 C-USA Tournament at Firstar Center.

        Nederlander bought Firstar Center on June 15 but did not accept the contract to hold Conference USA's tournament in 2002 and 2004.

        “The purpose of the meeting is to explore their interest,” Slive said. “We will discuss a lot of different elements and issues. Clearly we're delighted they have shown some interest, but there are several issues that need to be worked through.”

        Raymond S. Harris, Nederlander's chief financial officer, could not be reached Tuesday.

        Slive informed the league's athletic directors of the meeting during a conference call Tuesday. He said that if other schools are interested in bidding to play host to the event, they should express that within the next week.

        The University of Cincinnati has told the league it is willing to play host to the tournament at Shoemaker Center and that it wants the event to remain in Cincinnati. Louisville has said it is not actively seeking the tournament, to which it will play host in 2003, but that it would serve as a backup.

        Slive said he hopes the matter would be resolved in three to four weeks.

Jazz may take first dibs on Satterfield Online opinions on Satterfield Wizards could make history with first pick Firstar might yet host C-USA tourney

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