Maine hosting Classic Dead River tourney today

Thanksgiving is a holiday based around New England family traditions.

For the University of Maine women’s basketball team, Thanksgiving is built around basketball.

For many years, the Black Bears have served as the cordial hosts of the Dead River Company Classic, which begins today at Alfond Arena in Orono.

The turkey and stuffing will be replaced by basketball as the annual tournament welcomes Mississippi State, St. Joseph’s of Philadelphia, and Loyola of Chicago.

Mississippi State and St. Joseph’s get the event started today at 4 p.m., with the Black Bears and Loyola to follow at 6:30 p.m. The consolation game is scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m., with the championship slated for 6:30.

UMaine coach Sharon Versyp said there are several reasons teams are willing to make the trip to Orono for the Dead River Classic. The first, in the spirit of the season, is the Maine hospitality folks try to provide the visiting teams.

“We have host families that treat them extremely well. We have a nice Thanksgiving dinner for everybody and that doesn’t always happen when you go on the road and play at difference places,” Versyp said.

Each of the visiting teams is assigned a host family for the duration of its stay. Those people, often members of the Friends of Maine Women’s Basketball Group, meet the teams at the airport and make sure they find their hotels and that their needs are met when they’re on campus.

They’re even present during the teams’ practices and they accompany the visitors to the Thursday night tournament banquet at the Black Bear Inn and Conference Center. Host families often provide snacks for the teams at halftime and upon conclusion of their games.

“Our Friends group is why the tournament is so successful,” Versyp said. “They’re an extended family of our whole team and it’s really special.”

Versyp said the hospitality component is important, because the other teams are all far from their homes, away from their families during the holidays, in order to participate in the tournament.

“They know it’s great competition, great fans, people taking care of them up here, really caring for one another, and they usually have a great experience,” Versyp said.

Of course, the basketball and the Alfond Arena atmosphere provide the primary source of motivation for teams to come to Orono.

In addition to the perennially tough UMaine team, the other tourney participants are often high-profile programs such as Mississippi State and St. Joseph’s, which play in top-level conferences.

That means everyone in the tournament is likely to get two competitive games in a place where women’s basketball is appreciated.

“Teams want to come up here for an environment where there’s going to be fans that they can play in front of because of their hostile environments that they have when they get into their SEC or A-10 matchups,” Versyp said.