Shootout going strong after 25 years: Byron Birdsall created a special print to celebrate the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout's 25th anniversary. He will be on hand during the event to sign the posters.

• Author: Pilkington, Steve
• Position: Alaska this Month

The Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout is celebrating a quarter century of collegiate basketball excellence this month, and fans can expect something special from the tournament's supporters and organizers when it kicks off Nov. 26 at the Sullivan Arena.

"There are going to be surprises," said Dr. Steve Cobb, director of athletics at the University of Alaska Anchorage. "Byron Birdsall will be on hand to sign posters. McDonald's is running a vote on the all-time all-tourney team." Special leather basketballs with logos and an expanded line of souvenirs will commemorate this landmark running of the shootout.

Of course, if you haven't heard about it before, there also will be some top-notch basketball behind all the celebrations and fun typical of the shootout, which runs through Nov. 30.

Cobb said he believes the lasting power of the Alaska shootout is due in large part to the hospitality the community and sponsors show for the event. "None of the tournaments involve local high schools like we do," Cobb said.

Over the years there have been some remarkable milestones set during the tournament, which had humble beginnings with a former Seawolves coach.

The tournament was begun by the late Bob Rachal, who coached the UAA Seawolves during the 1977-'78 season. Rachal used some slight-of-hand to interpret an NCAA rule that said games outside the contiguous 48 states did not count against a team's normal allotment of 28 games in a season, and the unique atmosphere of Alaska helped provide the draw. Fortunately, teams outside jumped at the chance to have extra games against heavy competitors.

The first Sea Wolf Classic was played in November 1978. The inaugural event drew national press attention and portions of the tournament were televised live to regional markets for the teams involved. It became the Great Alaska Shootout the...