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BLACKBURG, Va. – ESPN College Basketball analyst Jay Bilas will be the featured speaker at the annual National Bank of Blacksburg/Virginia Tech Basketball Tip-off Banquet, on Nov. 6, 2011 at the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center.

Bilas is one of ESPN and ABC’s top basketball analysts and is widely recognized for his thorough knowledge of the game and his professional, clever style. Bilas provides expert color commentary from courtside on college basketball games and in the studio as the co-host of ESPN’s popular studio shows College Gameday and College Gamenight. He also writes for ESPN.com, and contributes numerous reports for ESPN SportsCenter. Bilas and the GameDay crew were in Cassell Coliseum on Feb. 26, as the Hokies’ hosted College GameDay and defeated No. 1 Duke, 64-60.

“Jay Bilas has become the voice and the face of college basketball in recent years,” head coach Seth Greenberg said. “He has a unique perspective on the game of basketball, having been both a player and a coach. He is one of the country’s more entertaining speakers and I have no doubt he will have a unique take on current state of college athletics, expansion, the ACC and the NCAA selection process. We are excited to have him help us celebrate the start of the college basketball season.”

Bilas was a four-year starter at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski from 1982-1986. Bilas scored 1,062 points, grabbed 692 rebounds and helped lead Duke to the 1986 ACC Championship and NCAA Championship Game.

Since 1992, Bilas has been an attorney with the law firm of Moore & Van Allen, PLLC, where he has specialized in commercial litigation. Bilas serves on the Board of Advisors of the John R. Wooden Award, the Board of Advisors of the Chip Hilton Award, the National Board of the Coaches vs. Cancer Organization and the Board of Advisors of the Duke Brain Tumor Center. A native of San Pedro, Calif, Bilas now resides in Charlotte, N.C., with his wife, Wendy, and two children, Victoria and Anthony.

“I am really looking forward to coming back to Blacksburg in November for the Virginia Tech Tip-Off Banquet,” Bilas said. “Seth Greenberg has done such a terrific job with the Virginia Tech program. When I first started with ESPN, I used to do games at Cassell when the Hokies were in the Atlantic 10. Seth has guided Virginia Tech from the Big East to the ACC, and Cassell has become a real beast to play in. I always enjoy Blacksburg and the environment in Cassell. It keeps getting better and better.”

The banquet, sponsored annually by the National Bank of Blacksburg, will again this year feature both a silent and a live auction. Along with various sports memorabilia, fans will have the opportunity to bid on seats on the bench for selected ACC games.

The program will also feature comments from Greenberg, a video highlighting the Virginia Tech 2010-11 season and previewing Tech’s 2011-12 Atlantic Coast Conference season. A majority of the money raised from this year’s banquet will be used to fund a summer trip to Europe for the Hokies.

Corporate tables of eight are available for $2,000, which will include a current Virginia Tech player or coach. Individual seatings are available for $220 each. All table sponsors will be invited to a private reception with Jay Bilas prior to the banquet. They will also receive a NIKE fleece jacket as well as a ball commemorating Virginia Tech wins vs Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest. ALL ACC ticket holders will also be invited to a private reception with Bilas and will receive a commemorative basketball.

Seating is limited. For more information or to reserve a table, please contact Sharon Spradlin in the Virginia Tech Men’s Basketball Office at (540) 231-6725.

For updates on Virginia Tech men's basketball, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_MBBall).