LA GRANDE, Ore. -- The 12th annual Aramark Quinn Classic returns this weekend to La Grande and Quinn Coliseum. The yearly collegiate men's basketball two-day showcase features four teams and four games.

This year the Eastern Oregon University men's basketball team welcomes The College of Idaho, Montana Tech, and Walla Walla University. The classic provides a perfect warm-up for the teams involved, as the games are always non-conference affairs early in the season.

The 2010 edition features all returning teams to the showcase. Tech and The College of Idaho each make their sixth appearances in the classic and Walla Walla returns for the second straight year.

Walla Walla returns seven players from a team that went 9-16 a year ago. The Wolves won a pair of games against Cascade Collegiate Conference foe, Northwest Christian University. Tristan Greenidge returns as the top scorer from last season. The 6-2 sophomore averaged 8.57 points and five rebounds a game in 2009-10. WWU lost its top five scorers from last year's team. Walla Walla finished third at the NAIA Div. 2 Independents Tournament in 2009-10 in Colorado.

The Wolves welcome eight new players and a new co-head coach, Jim Hill. Co-head coaches Gerry Larson and Hill found players in California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. Walla Walla is playing its first games of the season and will play games in Idaho, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, California, and Arizona this year. WWU plays opponents from the NCCAA, NAIA Div. 1, NAIA Div. 2, and NCAA Div. 2.

Montana Tech opened the 2010-11 season last Saturday with a 91-79 loss in Butte, Mont. to Dickinson State. After taking a 4-0 lead in the opening minutes, Tech would trail for the remainder of the game. At halftime Dickinson State held a 43-34 advantage. The Orediggers made some scoring runs after falling behind 60-40 five minutes into the second half. The team pulled within 11 points at the nine-minute mark.

The Orediggers had a nice offensive game from Hasquet with 22 points, including four 3-pointers. The senior was perfect in eight tries at the free-throw line. Newcomer Tyree Haynie was particularly effective driving the ball as he came off of the bench to score 19 points. Tech's new head coach, Aaron Woliczko welcomes back eight players from a team that went 11-20 in 2009-10. Woliczko was an assistant basketball coach at NCAA Div. I University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif.

Tech finished 4-10 in Frontier Conference play last season, which placed them seventh in the league standings. Dirk Anderson returns for his senior season after averaging 10.29 points and 6.1 rebounds a game last year. The Idaho City, Idaho native scored 11 points in the loss to Dickinson State. The Frontier Conference begins the year with two ranked teams, No. 12 Westminster and No. 25 Montana State-Northern. Rocky Mountain is receiving votes. Montana Western is off to a 4-0 start.

The College of Idaho began the season being picked fourth in the Cascade Collegiate Conference preseason coaches' poll. The 'Yotes opened 2010-11 with a pair of losses at a tournament hosted by Montana Western. C of I fell in the first game to Western, 84-47, and dropped a heartbreaker in overtime to Carroll College, 72-66. First year head coach Rod Jensen leads The College of Idaho into the Quinn Classic where the 'Yotes have a 7-3 record.

Jensen coached at Boise State University from 1983-2002, including the final seven seasons as the Broncos head coach, compiling a 109-93 overall record – including the Big West East Division regular-season championship in 1999. Following his time at BSU, Jensen spent two seasons as an assistant under Pete Gillen at the University of Virginia, helping the Cavaliers to a pair of NIT appearances, and has spent the last five seasons at UNCG – working under head coach, Mike Dement.

College of Idaho went 10-16 overall last year and finished eighth in the conference with a record of 6-12 in league play. Matt Ballenger leads a group of nine returners, including a pair of starters. Ballenger, a preseason All-CCC team member, scored six points in the opening game with Montana Western and 20 points against Carroll. Miguel Rodriguez had 11 assists in the games, and Krispin Banks grabbed 11 rebounds.

Last year, Montana Western won both of its games at the Quinn Classic, a 77-61 win over Eastern Oregon, and a 99-74 victory over Walla Walla. WWU won a thrilling opening tournament game, 78-76. EOU won the final game over Montana Tech, 69-42. JaRon Brown of Montana Western was the tournament MVP, and the other members of the All-Tournament team were Eastern's Jordan Gregg, Walla Walla's Mark Moore, Layne Glaus of Western, and Tech's Dean Colbray. None of those players return in 2010.

The Quinn Classic action begins Friday at 2 p.m. when Walla Walla faces The College of Idaho. EOU plays Montana Tech at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, C of I squares off with Tech at 5:30 p.m. and Eastern and WWU conclude the tournament at 7:30 p.m. All four games will be video streamed on EOUSports.com. Mike Safford Jr. will call the play-by-play of the afternoon games and Barrett Henderson and Keith Scarlett will cover the evening games.