Werner Ladder Co. Again Teams Up with the NCAA® and CBS Sports to be the Official Ladder of the NCAA® Basketball Championships

GREENVILLE, Pa., March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Werner Ladder announced today that it has again joined with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and CBS Sports to become the "Official Ladder of the NCAA® Basketball Championships." Additionally, Werner has become a Corporate Teammate of both the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). 

The Werner ladders that will be used by the winning teams in the post game net-cutting ceremonies for Divisions I, II and III men's and women's basketball championships, are made exclusively for the NCAA. These specially-sized 9 ft. fiberglass stepladders, are designed to give easy access to the net and feature a HolsterTop™ that has a built-in magnetic strip to safely secure screws, nails, or in this case, the scissors used to cut down the nets.

Following the championship games, the winning institutions will keep one ladder for permanent display on campus, and the other ladder will be auctioned off to a charity of the winning coach's choice at the start of next season. Proceeds from last year's Werner Ladder charity auction will go to Bill and Cindy Self's Assists Foundation for the 2007-08 University of Kansas Jayhawks championship ladder. The Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund™ will benefit from the auction of the 2007-08 University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers championship ladder. 

This year, the ladders will make several appearances in Detroit, including NCAA Hoop City® refreshed by Coca-Cola®, at the Werner Ladder Hang Time Challenge. There, fans can climb a Werner Ladder to see how long they can hang on a basketball rim, and compete against other fans to win prizes, including their own NCAA replica ladder. The display runs from April 3-6 at the Cobo Center. 

"Werner Ladder is extremely proud to be a part of the celebration honoring these teams who have worked so hard all year both on and off the court," said Chris Filardi, Vice President, Commercial Marketing, Werner Ladder.

In support of the partnership, Werner Ladder is proud to donate $1,000 to the general scholarship fund of each school that reaches the NCAA Men's and Women's Final Fours®.

Werner Ladder's participation is made possible through a relationship with Lowe's, an Official Corporate Partner of the NCAA. Werner ladders are available at Lowe's, and at most professional, hardware and paint retailers nationwide.