Hofstra's Cassara, team displaced for Tuesday's Presidential Debate

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will go head-to-head Tuesday in the second presidential debate. (Getty Images)

Each day Hofstra coach Mo Cassara has sent a tweet in the direction of President Obama.

Here's one from this morning: @BarackObama let's shoot some hoops! #Debate #Hofstra #AllPride

Here's another from last week: @BarackObama @MichelleObama @Obama2012 see you Tuesday at Hofstra - let's shoot some hoops

Hofstra University is hosting a Presidential Debate Tuesday night, and while it's certainly altered much of what Cassara and his team have been able to do over the last couple of weeks, he's not complaining.

"It's a great opportunity for the school," Cassara said. "It's been well worth it because it brings so much to the university."

Cassara and his staff have been out of their offices and moved to a large wide-open area on the other side of campus -- with other coaches -- since the end of September. He had to clean out his entire office and hasn't been allowed back in for the past two weeks.

"We can't even get back into the building," Cassara said. "For anything."

The team hasn't been allowed to practice in its arena or even its practice facility -- which will be utilized for the national media. Cassara and his players have been taken via vans to an off-campus facility in Westbury, N.Y., to practice that's paid for by the national debate.

"We're in a giant open space with coaches from different sports," Cassara said. "It's been kind of nice because you get to know some of the coaches that you don't see quite as much."

Cassara said that the current team is excited because one of the holding areas for Obama is the men's basketball locker room, which has undergone a $100,000 renovation project since Obama was in Hempstead four years ago for the last debate. A wall was taken down in the middle of the locker room when it was re-done, but they have put the wall back for Obama.

Cassara and his team won't be able to attend. In fact, even school president Stuart Rabinowitz won't be allowed to go. There were, according to Cassara, only 300 student lottery tickets.

"It's created a really cool buzz on campus," Cassara said. "Everyone was trying to get a seat for the debate."

Cassara will actually be at the CAA media day Tuesday, then he'll return to campus in hopes that everything will return to normal. It'll probably take until next Monday, though, before his team can get back into the Mack Sports Complex and he can get back into his office.

"It's been interesting," Cassara said. "But everyone has done such a great job with this -- from president Rabinowitz to those who have set up the actual debate. I can't tell you how proud I am of what everyone has done here."