Enquirer wire services

The University of Kentucky board of trustees honored former UK standout Tayshaun Prince on Tuesday, approving a resolution of congratulations for a player who helped the Detroit Pistons win this year's NBA title.

Prince attended the first part of the meeting, during which outgoing board chairman Steven Reed read the resolution. In previous board meetings, Reed has praised Prince and the way the player has represented the university since his graduation in 2002 with a degree in sociology.

"Prince has conducted himself with utmost dignity and class in dealing with the public and with the media, bringing great credit to his parents and to his coaches and other support staff at the University of Kentucky," the resolution reads.

"It always feels good to be back at UK," Prince said, adding that his time at the university was "the best four years of my life."

The 6-9 Prince played for Kentucky from 1998 through 2002 and ranks eighth on the school's career scoring list with 1,775 points.

The Pistons chose Prince in the first round of the 2002 NBA draft. The starting forward averaged 10.3 points and 4.8 rebounds last season for Detroit.

COACHES VS. CANCER: The Coaches vs. Cancer Classic has been expanded to 16 teams this season with four regional winners advancing to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden.

Last year's event was two doubleheaders featuring eight schools at Madison Square Garden on consecutive nights.

The format features four teams hosting a four-team regional. Three will be held Nov. 11-12, while the fourth will be Nov. 11-13. The semifinals are in New York on Nov. 18, with the championship game the next night.

The regionals will be held in: Syracuse, N.Y.; (Syracuse vs. Northern Colorado, and Princeton vs. Bucknell); Berkeley, Calif.; (California vs. UC Riverside, and St. Mary's vs. Belmont); Birmingham, Ala.; (Mississippi State vs. Fairfield, and Alabama A&M vs. Birmingham-Southern); and Memphis, Tenn. (Memphis vs. Savannah State, and George Mason vs. IPFW).

The Memphis regional will be Nov. 11 and 13.

Since 1995, the Gazelle Group, which produces the tournament, has raised over $2.2 million for Coaches vs. Cancer.

• Info: http://www.gazellegroup.com/cvcclassic/

GUARDIANS CLASSIC: Missouri, Creighton and Ohio State each will host an opening round of the Guardians Classic.

The 12-team event starts with the three four-team sites Nov. 15-16, and each winner plus a "wild-card" loser will advance to the championship round, Nov. 23-24 at Kansas City, Mo.

The wild card will be determined , it was announced Tuesday, based upon a team's RPI and relative margin of victory and defeat in the opening games.

The Columbus site will feature opening rounds will be at: Columbia, Mo. (Missouri vs. Brown, and Houston vs. Sam Houston); Omaha, Neb. (Creighton vs. Alcorn State, and Iona vs. Northern Arizona); and Columbus , Ohio (Ohio State vs. Towson, and Robert Morris vs. Morgan State.

The Guardians Classic was created to promote the NABC's Guardians of the Game program and is produced by the Gazelle Group.

• Info: http://www.gazellegroup.com/guardians

BCA CLASSIC: Marquette will host the eight-team BCA Classic at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee from Nov. 14-16.

The Golden Eagles will face Western Carolina in the final game of the opening round, it was announced Tuesday, and will be in the same semifinal bracket with the Penn State-Illinois State winner.

The other bracket has Air Force vs. Jacksonville State, and Mississippi vs. South Carolina State.

The Black Coaches Association is a nonprofit organization whose primary purpose is to foster the growth and development of minorities at all levels of sport. The tournament is produced by the Gazelle Group.

• Info: http://www.gazellegroup.com/bcainvite