Grant creates ties between UD, Turkish Basketball Federation

Participants in the Jan. 21 ceremony included Emir Turam (second from left), director of international relations for the TBF, the Turkish equivalent of the National Basketball Association, and Raymond Harvey (second from right), director for cultural affairs with the U.S. State Department. Representing UD were Provost Dan Rich (left) and Betty Paulanka (right), dean of the College of Health and Nursing Sciences. During the ceremony, Rich presented Turam with a framed print of UD landmark Memorial Hall.

2:30 p.m., Feb. 3, 2004--UD’s Jan. 21 men’s basketball game was notable for more than the 93-82 victory over the College of William and Mary. That game also included a pre-game ceremony recognizing the relationship between UD and the Turkish Basketball Federation (TBF).

The partnership between UD and the TBF stems from a $251,000 grant received in August from the U.S. State Department as part of its International Sports Programming Initiative. Coauthors of the grant are Matthew. J. Robinson, assistant professor, and David Barlow, associate professor, both of health and exercise sciences. Participants in the grant also include the Center for International Studies, the Office of Institutional Research and Planning and the College of Health and Nursing Sciences.

Key provisions of the grant for the UD International Sports Programming Initiative include:

Providing an opportunity for an aspiring basketball coach from Turkey to come to Newark and earn a master’s degree while serving as an assistant within the UD basketball program;
Holding a coaching seminar at UD in the fall of 2004; and
Hosting a four-week coaching laboratory at UD in late 2005 with six persons from Turkey who have been identified as aspiring coaches by the TBF.

Article by Jerry Rhodes

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