CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Earl Monroe still comes back to the CIAA basketball tournament.

Charles Oakley, Sam Jones, Ben Wallace, Ronald “Flip” Murray and even former Harlem Globetrotter Curly Neal can’t seem to stay away either.

While they’re not playing, new CIAA Commissioner Jacqie Carpenter hopes fans start attending more games, rather than just the parties associated with the tournament to help the historically black conference erase a $200,000 deficit.

The tournament tips off this week and the 200,000 fans that will descend on Charlotte want to be a part of all the events though many stay away from the games held at the city’s downtown arena, which is home to the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats.

Carpenter, the CIAA’s first appointed female commissioner, said the goal is to get out of the red “within a couple of years” and hopes the conference can get a jumpstart with this week’s ticket sales to the third-largest basketball tournament in the country behind only the ACC and Big East.

One reason for the huge attendance is the opportunity for CIAA alumni to fellowship, the event has a reunion feel to it.

• AP Sports Writer