[Cactus Jack]

I don't think Corbin should be barred from hosting. Honestly one of the best things for the city could be to come out of this as a gracious host that makes people rethink the things they've seen and heard about them and want to come back.

At the same time, I don't think that you can really blame someone that has been or would have been discriminated against there in the past for being hesitant about taking a trip there (or even having a personal preference that the tournament be hosted in another city instead). It's easy for people to say "oh, it isn't so bad" when they might not have been the target of the vitriol and there isn't a history of oppression or distrust. Let's be real, I'd say that most of the kids outside of the immediate area would much rather be spending the week in Richmond than Corbin.

@Old School Hound, I think you did a really good job summarizing a lot of the notable issues that Corbin has had. It's better to talk about it than have everyone ignoring the elephant in the room.

Another poster alluded to it, but there may be more diversity there NOW, but let's be real about how recent this is. It wasn't long ago that there were zero black students there, and I've known alum who were very open about how quickly they'd make the black kids who tried to go there leave as if it were some type of contest. Have seen and heard of other times where their players wouldn't shake the hands of black captains. That's something that you may find in some other towns, but most towns also phased out some of those types of things in the 60's and 70's. From my experience in the DFW area, I could see why an outsider might think that it'd be this really cosmopolitan place, but it's still a northeast Texas town with some issues that they need to work out. I look back on my time doing business in Fort Worth very fondly and love how everyone there is so down to Earth, but areas like Fairmount and Magnolia aren't really what immediately jump to mind when you think of it either-- it's cowboy boots, stockyards, oil pipelines, and pick-ups (and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that).

The biggest gripes I'd heard about Corbin hosting the tournament were about the elephant in the room, the distance for most schools, the lack of hotels and activities for teams and fans, and the lack of utilities for the media. Kudos to them for stepping up to the plate and offering an area when Richmond couldn't. Maybe they can take the ball and run with it. Even if it isn't the All "A", maybe it's hosting a daylong event like the Marshall County Hoops Fest.

I can promise you that Corbin is much higher on the list of cities that will be picked to host something than plenty of other towns that I've lived in. I think that it was very smart of Corbin to beat London to the punch in building a "civic center" type arena that could host concerts, the regional tournaments, or other similar events and that doing so can pay off for them for years to come, especially if they shed some of the ugly shadow that's been cast.