Northwest Notes March 15, 2022

| March 15, 2022 1:00 AM

Eastern men to play in The Basketball Classic

The Eastern Washington men's basketball team (18-15) has accepted an invitation to The Basketball Classic, and will play at Fresno State (19-13) on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Save Mart Center.

The Basketball Classic is a 32-team tournament open to teams not selected to participate in the NCAA tournament or NIT.

The tournament will begin this week with the semifinals scheduled for Tuesday, March 29 and the championship game on Thursday, March 31. Each game of The Basketball Classic will be held on the campus of one of the participating schools. The field and matchups will be set after each round.

Administering The Basketball Classic is a panel that previously conducted the College Insider, Inc. Postseason Tournament (CIT) from 2009-19.

All games will be broadcast on the ESPN+ platform, and Eastern Washington's game will also be on 700-AM ESPN and 103.5 FM or KXLY 920-AM/1007.FM in Cheney.

Fresno State lost in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament to No. 3 San Diego State after beating San Jose State in overtime in the first round.

Eastern Washington and Fresno State played once before EWU was a Division I member in 1985, where the Eagles lost.

This is Eastern's eighth appearance in a national postseason tournament and the second straight after advancing to the NCAA Tournament in 2021. Besides 2021, Eastern Washington has played in the NCAA Tournament in 2004 and 2015 and played in the NIT in 2003. They have played in three CBI tournaments in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

EWU's Copp elevated to defensive coordinator

Eastern Washington University football coach Aaron Best announced that Jeff Copp has been elevated to defensive coordinator.

Copp has spent two years on staff with the defensive tackles, beginning in 2020-21 after spending four seasons at Florida International University as the co-defensive coordinator.

Copp is a native of Idaho Falls, and played at Boise State. His 20 years of coaching experience includes stints at Northern Arizona (2016), UC Davis (2009-15) and Idaho State (2004).