The Jumpman Invitational begins in Charlotte this week, and Charlotte Sports Foundation Exec Dir Danny Morrison said it could be “the premier regular-season basketball event in the country,” according to Alex Zietlow of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. This year’s event "gathers the four schools that the Jordan Brand sponsors in football and basketball” -- North Carolina, Michigan, Florida and Oklahoma -- with two days of “elite doubleheader basketball” at Spectrum Center. But the Jumpman Invitational “markets itself as distinct from some other events” that the CSF has taken on. A court was "made special for this event." Sponsors "spent months in Charlotte communities with Charlotte residents, embarking on projects specifically for the invitational." Some of the projects included “partnering with the Carolina Youth Coalition and the Jordan Brand Wings Program,” where 23 children were selected to "help design the shooting shirts that the four schools will wear while warming up” for their games on Tuesday and Wednesday (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 12/20).
CAMPUS CONNECTIONS: SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL's Bill King notes the idea for the event "was hatched" by Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione, who "raised it when he met Morrison for an impromptu dinner while the Sooners were in Columbia for an NCAA men’s basketball regional in 2019." Morrison took it to Hornets President Fred Whitfield, who "jumped on the idea of bringing a Jordan brand event to the Spectrum Center, which the team operates." Whitfield "quickly got buy-in from Jordan and ran the idea by Bubba Cunningham, the athletic director at UNC, Jordan’s alma mater." Morrison "went to work on ADs from the other schools" (SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 12/19 issue).
