Jesuit Basketball Spotlight Initiative Wraps up Year 2, Prepares for Year 3

Washington, DC – The Jesuit Basketball Spotlight (JBS) initiative has wrapped up its second year, and plans to prepare for Year Three are underway. The JBS initiative is a nationwide effort to capitalize on basketball games between Jesuit institutions and, through those games, bring greater positive awareness and exposure to Jesuit education and its shared mission. The initiative, developed by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU), was launched during the 2008-09 basketball season.
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Jesuit Basketball Spotlight Initiative Wraps up Year 2, Prepares for Year 3
Friday, April 30, 2010


Washington, DC – The Jesuit Basketball Spotlight (JBS) initiative has wrapped up its second year, and plans to prepare for Year Three are underway. The JBS initiative is a nationwide effort to capitalize on basketball games between Jesuit institutions and, through those games, bring greater positive awareness and exposure to Jesuit education and its shared mission. The initiative, developed by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU), was launched during the 2008-09 basketball season.

“We are glad to use the platform of basketball to raise awareness about Jesuit higher education’s commitment to academic excellence, social justice, leadership and service,” said Fr. Charles Currie, S.J., the president of AJCU.

At the 104 basketball games this season between Jesuit schools – 53 of those games were between men’s teams, while women’s teams played 51 times – in-game announcements were made about Jesuit higher education. More than 275,000 people who attended these games (compared with 250,000 in Year 1 of JBS) heard these announcements.

In terms of media coverage, seven JBS games were televised on the ESPN networks, while 11 others aired on Fox Sports Network, CSTV, CSN, or other regional networks. Well more than half of the games were broadcast via local radio or live Internet feed. A game between the University of San Francisco and Gonzaga University was featured on YouTube and received more than an estimated 2.5 million individual hits.

Among the unique promotional efforts, the University of Detroit Mercy displayed posters featuring the JBS logo before a women’s game against Canisius; Marquette produced a poster/giant bobblehead of St. Ignatius Loyola for display among the student body during a televised Georgetown game; Fordham arranged a JBS t-shirt exchange between players before home JBS games; and Creighton took out a newspaper advertisement in the Omaha newspaper publicizing a JBS game against Loyola Chicago.

Additionally, the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight increased its promotion for the 2009-2010 season by creating a JBS Facebook page and developing weekly basketball notes that featured a National Jesuit Player of the Week and Jesuit Honor Roll for both the men’s and women’s teams. The weekly basketball notes were also used to promote some of the great players and teams that have competed for Jesuit schools during the past 100 years of collegiate basketball.

Based on the outcomes of the first two seasons, JBS will move forward with Year 3. The goal of Seasons One and Two was to raise awareness about JBS. Season Three will focus on incorporating more mission-focused activities into the programming. Ideas include: In-game interviews with mission/ministry directors; halftime recognition for scholar-athletes and members of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC); pregame collections on behalf of local needs (clothing/food); and the sharing of more stories that reflect the Jesuit tradition of academic excellence, student-centered education, and a faith that does justice. Also being developed are long-range plans for garnering higher-profile visibility and exposure for JBS.

For more information about the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight initiative, please see www.ajcunet.edu/jesuitbasketball.

Quote of the week

"Immersion experiences can open eyes, destroy prejudice, and change lives. I have watched countless students return from developing countries as changed persons, with renewed hearts eager to live as men or woman for others."
Rev. Stephen A. Privett, S.J., President of the University of San Francisco, commenting on the power of immersion experiences


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