Responding to pressure from NCAA president Cedric Dempsey and Purdue basketball coach Gene Keady, Cincinnati-based World Wide Sports has found a new venue for its Las Vegas Classic, scheduled for Dec.20-22 at the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

        Objections had been raised about the college basketball tournament being held at a facility that housed a gambling casino.

        “We felt the pressure today and we're trying to accommodate our schools by trying to find a new venue,” Chris Spencer of World Wide Sports said Friday. “We've asked the NCAA to approve that change and we're waiting to hear from them.”

        The new, unspecified ven ue is also in Las Vegas, but Spencer said it is not affiliated with a casino hotel.

        The University of Cincinnati is scheduled to play in the tournament, along with Purdue, Mississippi State Texas A&M, Richmond, Southwest Missouri State, Illinois-Chicago and Louisiana-Monroe.

        UC athletic director Bob Goin, in a prepared statement, said the school was happy to see the venue changed and is looking forward to the tournament.

        “The university shares the concerns of the NCAA and its member schools regarding gambling,” Goin said.

        Nevada is the only state where gambling on college sports is legal.

        “I have heard from members of Congress with whom we have been working on this legislation about their frustration and anger with this situation,” Dempsey said in a statement. “I agree with them. We have work to do within our own organization to assure that our commitment to opposing legalized college sports wagering is considered seriously.”

        Keady, who told The Washington Post he thought the tournament would be played at UNLV when he agreed to participate, on Fri day urged the tournament sponsors to move the event.

        Spencer expressed surprise that such a commotion had been raised over a tournament that already had been certified by the NCAA.

        “We sent the paperwork in April to play this at the Paris Hotel and there was not one question from the NCAA,”

        Spencer said. “Nothing. They approved it right away.

        “I know what happened. Sen. (John) McCain (R-Ariz.) and the boys got involved. They've been trying to get rid of gambling on college athletics. As soon as McCain started voicing his opinion on this, everything has been a free-for-all.”

        McCain is the Senate sponsor of the Amateur Sports Integrity Act, which the NCAA strongly supports. On Wednesday, both he and Rep. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), sponsor of similar legislation in the House of Representatives, asked the NCAA to stop teams from playing at the Paris Hotel and Casino.

        The Las Vegas Classic is one of three tournaments scheduled to be conducted in the Paris Hotel. It originally was scheduled to be played in Puerto Rico.

        Under a new format devised by World Wide Sports this year, the first-round games were to be played at four of the schools' home sites, then the rest of the tournament was to be moved to Puerto Rico. Every school was guaranteed four games in an Olympic pool format.

        But the NCAA ruled that such a format must be played within the 48 contiguous states. Spencer then moved it to Las Vegas.

        “I never thought about this,” Spencer said. “It was simply a destination. When you think of the 48 states, competing against Hawaii for attracting schools, where would you go?”

        The games were to be played in the hotel ballroom, which would have been modified into a 3,000-seat arena.

        “I'm not playing inside a casino,” Spencer said. “I was playing in a ballroom. The airport has a casino in it. Does that mean you can't fly into Las Vegas?”

        During the 1996-97 season, while UC was playing in Spencer's holiday tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the Bearcats stayed at a resort hotel with a casino. Forward Ruben Patterson took advantage of the opportunity by winning $750 in the casino.

UC, Vegas tourney won't play in casino

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