Will high school basketball state tournaments change locations? IHSA to decide soon
The Illinois High School Association Board of Directors will vote Monday on sites for its boys and girls state basketball tournaments for the 2021-23 seasons.
The Peoria Civic Center, where both Bellleville West and East St. Louis won boys state titles in 2019, and State Farm Center in Champaign, have made bids to host the boys state finals. The Peoria Civic Center and Redbird Arena in Normal are in the running to host the girls state finals.
The Civic Center has made a bid to host both the boys and girls state tournament and also has made a bid to host just the boys state tournaments.
The meeting and the vote will take place virtually. IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said Wednesday he felt it was important to let the venues know the decision instead of waiting until the board could meet in person.
“It had initially been my intention to hold off on making a decision on host venues until the IHSA Board of Directors were able to meet again in person,” Anderson said in a statement. “However, as the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to impact our timeline, we have reached a juncture where we believe it will become detrimental to the potential host venue or venues, as well as our staff, if we continue to wait any longer.
“Monday’s board meeting will be conducted remotely via a video conference call. We appreciate the patience of everyone involved in this process.”
The coronavirus pandemic caused the cancellation of the IHSA State Boys Tournaments this year. The Peoria Civic Center has hosted the boys state finals since 1996. The University of Illinois in Champaign hosted the previous 77 years.
Redbird Arena in Normal has been the host venue of the girls state finals since 1992.
The IHSA boys and girls state tournaments will also have a different format beginning in 2021 with all four classes being held on the same weekend. The girls state tournament will be held March 11-13 and the boys tournament will take place March 18-20.
This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 4:36 PM.
