ESPN Regional Television and David A.K. Matlin, executive director of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, announced today the broadcast team for the 2010 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. Play-by-play broadcasters Jon Sciambi and Kanoa Leahey will be joining color analysts Doug Gottlieb and Mark Gottfried for the second annual tournament which will include 10 games broadcast on the ESPN family of networks.
This is the second straight year that Gottlieb, Leahey and Sciambi are part of the broadcast team, while Gottfried, the former head coach at the University of Alabama, makes his first appearance. Leahey, sports director for KHON-TV in Honolulu, will again broadcast three of the 10 games, including an opening evening matchup between Florida State and host Hawai'i. Leahey is a third-generation Hawai'i broadcaster. His father Jim has been the voice of University of Hawai'i athletics for more than 25 years.
“Kanoa's return to the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic broadcast team allows our national audience some key insights and local flavor that only a kama'aina can share,” Matlin said. “He's a young, up-and-coming broadcaster who garnered a spot on the team again after showcasing his talent last year. His appearance is one of the many benefits that the ESPN partnership provides to both the University of Hawaii and the State of Hawaii.”
"It's really exciting to be involved with the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic once again,” Leahey said. “Serving as an announcer in the early stages of a growing basketball tradition in the islands is a
wonderful privilege."
The Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, an eight-team men's college basketball tournament, will feature 12 games through three days – Dec. 22, 23 and 25. The Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl, also owned by ESPN Regional Television, will be played Dec 24. Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. The two teams that remain undefeated throughout will face off in a championship match on Christmas day, Dec. 25.
The tournament field includes eight teams: Baylor, Butler, Florida State, Hawai'i, Mississippi State, San Diego, Utah and Washington State. Four of the eight teams reached the 2009-10 postseason, including a Butler squad that advanced all the way to the NCAA Tournament finals before falling to Duke in a thrilling championship game. Baylor also made a deep run in the NCAA Tournament with its first appearance in the Elite Eight.
Additional information can be found on the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic's official Web site:
www.DiamondHeadClassic.com.
Tournament Schedule (Home team listed second; Hawai'i is home team in all games played)
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Date
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Time (HT)
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Game
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Network – Broadcast Team
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Wed, Dec 22
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10 a.m.
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Mississippi State vs. Washington State
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ESPNU – Jon Sciambi, Mark Gottfried
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|
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Noon
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San Diego vs. Baylor
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ESPNU – Jon Sciambi, Mark Gottfried
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|
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6 p.m.
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Utah vs. Butler
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ESPNU – Jon Sciambi, Doug Gottlieb
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|
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8 p.m.
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Florida State vs. Hawai'i
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ESPNU – Kanoa Leahey, Doug Gottlieb
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Thu, Dec 23
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11:30 a.m.
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Game 5
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ESPNU – Kanoa Leahey, Mark Gottfried
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|
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1:30 p.m.
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Game 6
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ESPNU – Jon Sciambi, Mark Gottfried
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|
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5 p.m.
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Game 7
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ESPN2 – Jon Sciambi, Doug Gottlieb
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|
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7:30 p.m.
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Game 8
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ESPNU – Kanoa Leahey, Doug Gottlieb
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Sat, Dec 25
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9 a.m.
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Game 9
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|
|
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11:30 a.m.
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Game 10
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|
|
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2:30 p.m.
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Game 11
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ESPN2 – Jon Sciambi, Doug Gottlieb
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|
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4:30 p.m.
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Game 12 (Championship)
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ESPN2 – Jon Sciambi, Doug Gottlieb
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About Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian is the nation's highest-ranked carrier for service quality and performance in 2009 in the 20th annual Airline Quality Rating study, having earned that distinction in three of the past four years. Hawaiian has also led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the past six years (2004-2009) as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and Zagat have all ranked Hawaiian the top domestic airline offering flights to Hawaii.
Now in its 81st year of continuous service for Hawaii, Hawaiian is the state's biggest and longest-serving airline, as well as the largest provider of passenger air service to Hawaii from the state's primary visitor markets on the U.S. mainland. Hawaiian offers nonstop service to Hawaii from more U.S. gateway cities (10) than any other airline, as well as service to the Philippines, Australia, American Samoa, Tahiti, and, in the coming months, Japan and South Korea. Hawaiian also provides more than 150 daily jet flights between the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA).Additional information is available at
HawaiianAirlines.com.
ESPN Regional Television/Event OwnershipThe nation's largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming, ESPN Regional Television (ERT) annually produces more than 1,000 telecasts of sporting events. Programming includes football, basketball, NCAA events, golf and NHRA events accounting for more than 2,200 live and/or original hours of programming. In addition to event ownership, ERT is the production headquarters for ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network; syndication rights-holder and producer of national, regional and local shows for college conferences (e.g. – SEC, BIG EAST, Big 12, Mid-American, WAC).
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