Atlanta Tipoff Club Announces New Leadership
Oberman Tapped As New Executive Director

ATLANTA (May 4, 2010) – The Atlanta Tipoff Club (ATOC), administrator of the Naismith Awards for college and high school basketball excellence, today announced that it has elected a new slate of officers to lead the organization.

“The Atlanta Tipoff Club and the Naismith Awards have grown in both scope and recognition, especially over the past few years, and this team has been a big part of that success,” said Barry Goheen, a partner at Atlanta-based law firm King & Spalding LLP, and Atlanta Tipoff Club chairman since 2008. “We are eager to build on the current momentum and aggressively grow these brands with an infusion of new people and companies.”

Eric Oberman has been named ATOC’s new executive director, and will continue as the Atlanta Sports Council’s vice president for communications, a role he has held since 2007. In this new role, Oberman will be responsible for growing ATOC’s assets, increasing the board of directors and boosting the national visibility of the Naismith Awards.

Over the past three years, the ATOC has experienced tremendous growth and increased brand visibility with the creation of separate men’s and women’s college basketball preview luncheons, a re-structuring of its board of directors and the addition of  a national Naismith High School Coach of the Year category. In addition, the organization now honors the Naismith College Coach of the Year winners on their college campus, and created a recognition program to honor past Naismith Trophy winners on their milestone anniversaries. 

The ATOC also named Rob Hollis, chief financial officer of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the organization’s secretary and treasurer. Goheen, Hollis and Oberman join Dan Corso, Atlanta Sports Council executive director, and Sam A. Williams, Metro Atlanta Chamber president, on the ATOC Governing Board of Directors.

The ATOC, a 501(c) (3) organization, was founded as a way for Atlantans to share a common bond: the love and enjoyment of basketball. The organization’s mission is to promote and expand the passion, tradition and heritage of basketball, and honor those who have achieved excellence and positively impacted the game both locally and nationally.

ABOUT THE ATLANTA TIPOFF CLUB
The Atlanta Tipoff Club, an Atlanta Sports Council property, is committed to promoting the game of basketball and recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of those who make the game so exciting. The Atlanta Tipoff Club, founded during the 1956-57 season, has presented the Naismith Trophy every year since UCLA’s Lew Alcindor first won the award in 1969.  Old Dominion’s Anne Donovan won the inaugural Women’s Naismith Trophy in 1983. The Naismith Award is the most prestigious award in all of college and high school basketball, recognizing the Men’s and Women’s College Basketball Player of the Year, Men’s and Women’s College Basketball Coach of the Year, as well as awards for outstanding achievement in high school basketball, officiating, and contribution to the game. For more information visit www.naismithawards.com. The Atlanta Sports Council was created in 1985 under the original name of Sports 2000, and is a division of the Metro Atlanta Chamber. For more information visit www.AtlantaSportsCouncil.com.