January 11, 2006

Indianapolis, IN - Don DeVoe, who won more than 500 games as a head coach at five Division I institutions, will join the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) selection committee in time for the group's January meeting. DeVoe will replace former Purdue head coach Gene Keady, who stepped down from the committee after accepting a job as assistant coach with the NBA's Toronto Raptors.

DeVoe began his coaching career as an assistant at Army in the 1960s and took his first head coaching job at Virginia Tech in 1971. After leading the Hokies to the 1973 NIT championship, DeVoe went on to coach at Wyoming, Tennessee, Florida and Navy. DeVoe led Tennessee to the NCAA Tournament seven times in 11 seasons and in his second year at Navy, led the Midshipmen to the Patriot League title.

DeVoe joins a group chaired by C.M. Newton, a three-time SEC Coach of the Year and the former athletics director at Kentucky. Former Division I coaches Reggie Minton, John Powers, Dean Smith and Carroll Williams also serve on the six-person committee.

"We are thrilled to have Don join the group. He has been a great ambassador for college basketball for more than 40 years and we welcome his experience," Newton said.

The committee will evaluate the structure of the tournament's existing events and establish principles and procedures for the team selection process. The 2006 postseason NIT field will be the first selected by the committee.