Steve Nelson – Tournament Director

Mr. Nelson has been involved with the South Florida basketball community for over 30 years, as a player, coach, official and executive. Beginning as a player and coach with the Coral Springs Basketball Club in the late 1980’s, Steve went on to serve the club as a board member and President for over ten years. For four years during the early 1990’s, he co-chaired the Masters Tournament with then Tournament Director Dave Hulett, helping to build a foundation for the future of the tournament. He also played in the tournament for a number of years. Steve is currently semi-retired and currently resides in Coral Springs.

Abbie Tepe-Murphy – Asst. Tournament Director – Administration

Coming to Nova Southeastern University after playing her high school ball in the Cincinnati area, Abbie had an outstanding college career. A premier Point Guard for the Sharks, Abbie is the third all-time scorer for the Nova Women’s program. She finished with 1029 points and she was also a program leader in assists, steals, free throws made, rebounding and games played. In addition, she was also named to a number of All Conference and All Tournament teams in the Sunshine State Conference.

While working on her Masters’ degree in Sports Administration, she was named as a graduate assistant coach in 2011 and in May of 2014 was promoted to full time Assistant coach.

During her time as an assistant coach, the team has compiled an overall winning record with two Sunshine State Conference Regular Season Championships, two SSC Tournament Championships, as well as four appearances in the NCAA Women’s Division II Elite Eight by the program.

Abbie has worked for the MBA tournament since the May of 2008 and served as Office Manager for the 2013, 2014 and 2015 tournaments. Based on the outstanding job she has done as well as her outstanding educational background, she was promoted to MBA Assistant Tournament Director for Administration in 2016. Abbie currently works for Stericycle and lives in Ft. Lauderdale with her husband and 2 children.

Pete Battaglia – Supervisor of Officials

Mr. Battaglia retired from Morgan Stanley in Dec. 2021 where he specialized in Retirement and Estate Planning. Mr. Battaglia has held the Supervisor of Officials position for the MBA for the past fifteen years and has been instrumental in bringing a very high level of quality to the MBA officiating staff. Mr. Battaglia has been officiating for over 40 years including over 30 years at the collegiate level.

Mr. Battaglia recruits primarily NCAA qualified officials and a few top-level high school officials. All officials receive an orientation regarding the unique nature of the tournament and of the professional performance level expected by the MBA Board.