By Chris Duncan
The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville coach Rick Pitino wants to keep the Billy Minardi Classic close to his family, inviting only teams coached by former players, assistants and friends.

He expects the event to be short-lived.

"We'll run out of opponents in a few years," Pitino said jokingly Monday. "But I'd love to do that. We still have a few years to go."

This year's event - a two-day, four-team tournament at Freedom Hall - is named after Pitino's best friend and brother-in-law, who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center.

In Tuesday's opener, Louisville (3-1) plays Eastern Kentucky (5-1), coached by Travis Ford, who played for Pitino at Kentucky. Manhattan (3-1) plays Wright State (5-2) in the second game of the opening-night doubleheader.

The attacks still haunt Pitino, who sat helplessly in his Louisville office and watched on television as the drama of the attacks unfolded.

Minardi, the brother of Pitino's wife, Joanne, worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, on the 105th floor of the north tower. It was the first tower hit by a hijacked plane and the second one to collapse.

Pitino never heard from Minardi, who was eventually listed among the dead.

"It's been a difficult time for so many people, experiencing Sept. 11," Pitino said Monday. "You find that each day that goes by, you don't miss your friend or your family member any less. You just try to hang your hat on something positive."

Pitino decided the best way to honor his friend was to create an annual basketball event in his name. Minardi was a fixture at games Pitino coached.

"Billy was a special person," Pitino said. "He had a smile that would light up a room. He treated everybody as if they were his best friend, he rooted for everybody and he loved watching college and professional basketball games when they involved our family."

Pitino said Minardi's widow, Stephanie; their three children; and other family members will attend this week's games.

"It has his name behind it. It's important to all of us," Pitino said. "We want it to be a first-class event."

Pitino also announced that the school will soon begin building an athletic dormitory that will bear Minardi's name.

"We think it will be the finest dormitory in all of basketball - even better than the one Travis lived in (at Kentucky)," Pitino said with a smile.

Pitino said next year's classic will be a single game, with Louisville playing Florida and Coach Billy Donovan, who played for Pitino at Providence and assisted him at Kentucky.

Ford knew Minardi from Pitino's days at Kentucky. Ford said Minardi was a favorite among the players.

"He was always at our games and he would always come up and ask you, 'How are you doing? How's your family doing?"' Ford said. "Coach didn't know this, but he was always a topic of our conversations, especially on the road.

"As a team, we always said, 'I hope Mr. Minardi's at the game,' because that always put Coach in a better mood."

Manhattan coach Bobby Gonzalez, who met Pitino several years ago at a basketball camp, was also a friend of Minardi's.

"I started going to his house for cookouts and his sons started coming to my basketball camps every summer," Gonzalez said. "He was a really special guy. That's not just something to say because his name is on this tournament. I was glad I had the chance to get to know him."

Gonzalez said the tournament had added meaning for the Jaspers, who play 20 miles from the site where the World Trade Center once stood.

"For us, being from New York City, it's special. We lost a lot of Manhattan graduates that day," Gonzalez said. "The theme for the tournament is a big thing for our kids."