All 12 head coaches of the Atlantic Sun Conference teams met Monday in Johnson City to announce General Shale Brick as the 2005-2006 sponsor for the A-Sun Men’s Basketball Championships.
ETSU will host the tournament March 2-4, 2006 in the Memorial Center.
“I think we’re going to have an outstanding tournament,” A-Sun Commissioner Bill Bibb said Monday during the A-Sun Media Day held at the Carnegie Hotel.
Also during the event, ETSU’s Tim Smith (Newport News, Va.) was named one of the picks for A-Sun Preseason Player of the Year, and the ETSU Bucs were picked to win the tournament and its automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Gardner-Webb, defending A-Sun champion, was picked to win in regular season.
“Tim Smith’s one of the most exciting players in the country,” said former ETSU coach Sonny Smith.
Gardner Webb’s Brian Bender, Simon Conn and Tim Jennings accompany Smith in the All-Atlantic Sun picks, as does Mercer’s Will Emerson.
Smith, who has twice been selected as a preseason player of the year during his career, has decided to return to Johnson City for his fourth season after putting his name in the NBA Draft pool earlier this year.
Smith is a 5-feet-9 senior guard with an average of 22.2 points per game. Only one A-Sun player has averaged more than 20 points per game in the last six years, according to a press release.
Smith and his 12 teammates will compete for one of the top eight positions in the 11-team conference for the bid to the NCAA tournament. The Bucs won 27 games last year and almost won in the first round of the tournament.
Playing at home during the conference championships will be exciting for the ETSU fans, ETSU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Dave Mullins stated in a press release. “We are so proud that a company like General Shale Brick, with its outstanding reputation, has agreed to act as the name sponsor for the tournament.”
Dick Green, president and CEO for General Shale Brick, said in a press release the sponsorship made sense for many reasons. “This is our way of supporting the ETSU basketball program, the university, the community and our new conference,” Green said.
“We have some great basketball fans in the region and they will be able to see some high quality basketball teams from the Southeast right here in Johnson City,” he said. “And we will have the opportunity to demonstrate our hospitality to many visitors that will travel to the Tri-Cities for the tournament.”
General Shale Brick is headquartered in Johnson City, Tenn. Green said the sponsorship made sense for General Shale Brick, considering the company’s presence in the Southeast.
“General Shale Brick markets our products throughout the Atlantic Sun Conference area and we’d like to thank our past, present and future customers for their business,” he said in a press release.
Fans can order tickets by calling 439-ETSU (3878). For more information on the A-Sun Conference and the upcoming tournament, visit AtlanticSun.org or ETSUBucs.com.

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