Mercyhurst College athletic department began an annual Basketball Tip-Off Dinner in 1988. It was a chance for the basketball coaches to speak about the upcoming season and was a "tip-off" to the season. A tradition of this dinner was a distinguished speaker who attended.

Below are the program bios of each speaker, with the exception of the years 1988, 89, 90, 94, and 95.

The following is the list of speakers, the date, and where the dinner was held:

Jim Boeheim (11/7/88 at the Maennerchor Club)
P.J. Carlesimo (11/12/89 at the Maennerchor Club)
Steve Fisher (11/11/90 at the Maennorchor Club)
Dick Vitale (11/13/91 at the Shrine Club)
John MacLeod (11/8/92 at the Shrine Club)
Billy Packer (11/11/93 at the Shrine Club)
Chuck Daly (11/2/94 at the Shrine Club)
Bill Raftery (11/13/95 at the Bel-Aire Hotel)
Clark Kellogg (11/4/96 at the Bel-Aire Hotel)
Quinn Buckner (11/3/97 at the Bel-Aire Hotel)
Tom Heinsohn (11/2/98 at the Bel-Aire Hotel)
Sean McDonough (11/8/99 at the Bel-Aire Hotel)
Jay Bilas (11/13/00 at the Bel-Aire Hotel)
John Feinstein (11/12/01 at the Bel-Aire Hotel)
Len Elmore (11/4/02 at the Clarion Hotel)
Mike Brey (11/11/03 at the Courtyard by Marriott)
Phil Martelli (10/28/04 at the Marriott Ambassador)
John Beilein (11/3/05 at Marriott Ambassador)
Jay Wright (10/30/06 at Marriott Ambassador)