In an effort to continue the development of sports at the institution, the University of Technology (UTech) is set to embark on the staging of a third invitational event, the UTech Basketball Classic, set for November 27-30.

The competition, which will be the first of its kind for any local university, is expected to be an annual affair and comes after both the UTech Invitational Athletic Classic and UTech Golf Classic, both put on by the institution earlier this year. The teams that have been invited to take part in this year's contest are the University of the West Indies, GC Foster College and the London South Bank University.

Director of Sports, Anthony Davis indicated last week that hosting the basketball classic was not only in line with enhancing sports at UTech, but also improving the financial contribution of the discipline to the university.

"The aim of the classic series is to use sporting events to generate income which will be used to provide scholarships, improve our sport facilities, support the nutrition programme for our athletes and contribute to the general revenue of the university," Davis said.

The first match of the basketball classic will be played at 6 p.m. on Thursday, November 27 between London South Bank University and GC Foster College after a uniform parade at 5 p.m.

The institution will also hold the UTech Cricket Classic, which is slated for mid-January 2009. It will involve teams from local universities and the Caribbean, as well as a team from an Indian university.