Great Alaska Shootout timeline

Updated: August 25, 2017 Published: August 25, 2017

A fan holds up a sign for ESPN cameras at the 1987 Great Alaska Shootout. (Michael Penn / ADN archive 1987)

1979 — The Sea Wolf Classic returns as the Great Alaska Shootout, a name coined by TV broadcaster Billy Packer during coverage of the inaugural tournament.

1983 — The Shootout moves from Buckner Fieldhouse to Sullivan Arena.

1985 — ESPN airs its first live broadcasts of the Shootout, beginning a 33-year run of live Shootout coverage.

1986 — UAA beats Texas and Washington to claim two wins in a single Shootout for the first time. The Seawolves did it again in 1987, 1991, 2003, 2010 and 2012.

1993 — Anchorage's Jason Kaiser scores 35 points to help the Seawolves upset Wake Forest 70-68 in a nationally televised first-round game.

1993 — Purdue's Glenn Robinson sets the Shootout scoring record with 97 points in three games, topping the record of 83 set in 1980 by Colgate's Mike Ferrara.

1994 — Carrs (later Carrs-Safeway) becomes the tournament's title sponsor.

1997 — Shootout sets an attendance record with 52,200 fans coming to Sullivan over a four-day period that ended with North Carolina's 73-69 championship game victory over Purdue.

1998 – Cincinnati, ranked 15^th in the nation, surprises top-ranked Duke and hometown hero Trajan Langdon 77-75 in a title game played in front of a sellout crowd of 8,700.

1999 — A women's tournament is added to the Shootout, a four-team event created after the demise of the eight-team Northern Lights Invitational, which ran from 1980-1997 on separate dates from the Shootout.

2006 — UAA women begin run of four straight Shootout championships.

2008 — ESPN coverage ends.

2009 — Unable to attract seven Division I men's teams, the Shootout becomes a six-team, round-robin event for one year.

2011 — The Shootout, struggling to survive, receives $2 million from the state legislature.

2012 — CBS Sports Network begins coverage.

2014 — The Shootout moves from Sullivan Arena to the Alaska Airlines Center, and GCI becomes the tournament's new title sponsor.

2015 — UAA junior guard Suki Wiggs scores 98 points in three tournament games to break the record of 97 set by Purdue's Glenn Robinson in 1993.

Aug. 24, 2017 — UAA announces that the 40th edition of the Shootout will be the last.

Sources: Alaska Dispatch News archives, UAA athletic department

For 40 years, Shootout showed Alaska what big-time college basketball looks like

Photos: Memorable moments of the Great Alaska Shootout

Beth Bragg

Beth Bragg wrote about sports and other topics for the ADN for more than 35 years, much of it as sports editor. She retired in October 2021. She's contributing coverage of Alaskans involved in the 2022 Winter Olympics.