Anchorage Daily News

Despite parting ways with ESPN, the Great Alaska Shootout is gradually expanding its reach among television viewers across the country.

Earlier this month, general manager Tom Steigleman of KCFT-TV Anchorage (channels 19 and 35) announced an agreement with Fox Sports Northwest in which the latter would carry four Shootout games this week.

And last week, Steigleman reached agreement with WLOS-TV in Asheville, N.C., to carry Western Carolina's first-round Thursday game against San Diego State. WLOS reaches 858,000 households.

All together, KCFT will broadcast eight Shootout games, anchored by Kelly Thompson and former UAA star Bryan Anderson. Fox Sports Northwest will pick up the Seattle University vs. Louisiana Tech game at 5 p.m. Thanksgiving Day plus both semifinals and the championship.

Fox Sports Northwest is a regional sports network available in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, parts of Wyoming and parts of northern Nevada. It covers the Seattle Mariners and Seattle Seahawks as well as providing local coverage of the Pac-10, Western Athletic, Big Sky, West Coast and Mountain West conferences.

"That's great coverage for us," UAA associate athletic director Tim McDiffett said. "Tom and the folks there have been great to work with. They've worked very hard."

ESPN's Shootout telecasts date back to 1985, ending with last year's championship between Butler and Texas Tech -- a telecast that began at 12:30 a.m. EST. The Shootout had long been the only Alaska sporting event to receive regular national coverage.

But a bevy of new tournaments around Thanksgiving -- including EPSN's own tournament -- signaled the end of the relationship.

ESPN's tournament, the Anaheim Classic, is in its second year and features such teams as Arizona State, Baylor and Providence. Heading to Alaska for the men's Shootout is Hampton, Western Carolina, Portland State, Seattle, Louisiana Tech, Northern Illinois and San Diego State.

And even though the Shootout field may lack a headliner, UAA athletic director Steve Cobb notes that little-known teams can emerge after a strong Shootout run.

Last year, for instance, Western Kentucky won two of its three Shootout games behind star guard Courtney Lee, propelling the Hilltoppers to a 29-7 season in which they got within one victory of reaching the NCAA Elite Eight.

Cobb said another such team could be lurking this year.

"Almost nobody was excited about (Western Kentucky) being here and they ended up being a Sweet 16 team," he said. "A lot of these schools would be on the level (with) a Western Kentucky. I think folks are gonna find out it's better basketball than they might think."

And sometimes you can find a basketball gem on a lousy team. Just three years ago, Eastern Washington went 0-3 in the Shootout. Rodney Stuckey, a 6-foot-5 freshman guard, was drafted by the NBA and logged nearly 20 minutes a game last season as a Detroit Pistons rookie, filling in at point guard in the playoffs when Chauncey Billups was hurt.

Watching such stars-in-the-making has long been a draw of the Shootout. Who knows what kind of talent lurks on Hampton's bench?

Basketball afficionados will find out, but Steigleman acknowledged a stronger field may have meant even more television coverage.

"It would have been a lot easier (to sell) if we had nationally ranked teams coming up," he said.

McDiffett said future Shootout fields should be better, but he's glad the Shootout has survived so far. Not every holiday tournament has. UAF's Top of the World Classic was canceled in July -- in part due to appearance fees for teams that soared as high as $100,000 -- after a 12-year run.

"It's a whole new world," McDiffett said. "There are so many events out there.

"We think that going forward, we're going to have to get a national deal."

McDiffett said the school talked to both Versus and Fox Sports, but it was too late to pull off a deal this year.

"We're going to redouble our efforts," he said. "We're pretty confident."

Daily News reporter Mike Campbell can be reached at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.

Shootout Schedule

Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout

(All games at Sullivan Arena)

Women's tournament

Tuesday

6 p.m. -- UAA vs. Cal State Northridge

8 p.m. -- Jackson State vs. Syracuse

Wednesday

2:30 p.m. -- Consolation game

5 p.m. -- Championship

Men's tournament

First-round games

Wednesday

7:30 p.m. -- UAA vs. Hampton

9:45 p.m. -- Portland State vs. Northern Illinois

Thursday

5 p.m. -- Seattle vs. Louisiana Tech

7:30 p.m. -- San Diego State vs. Western Carolina

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