Marty Gordon
The Big South Conference still has no new home for its men’s and women’s basketball tourneys, but Monday the conference announced it will award its 2024 Basketball Championship via bids from on-campus and/or community partners.
According to the conference office, the Big South Council of Chief Executive Officers approved this decision on Friday, June 16, and Request for Proposals will be distributed to the Conference membership the week of June 26. The league anticipates awarding the host site no later than Sept. 1.
The 2024 Championships will mark the third consecutive year with a combined men’s and women’s tournament format and is tentatively scheduled for March 6-10. While it was initially determined that a one-year format of home sites/highest seeds for both men’s and women’s basketball would be utilized in 2024 if a neutral site could not be secured by June 13, the Big South CEOs supported the Council of Athletics Directors proposal to explore an on-campus pre-determined site, and/or a member school hosting in its home community for this upcoming year.
“Our membership spent a considerable amount of time focusing on this pertinent matter,” said Big South Commissioner Sherika A. Montgomery. “We were able to glean feedback from constituency groups including our student-athletes, coaches and administrators. In doing so, it became clear a pre-determined location would be optimal in providing a supreme and holistic championship experience for men’s and women’s basketball student-athletes.”
Bids will be accepted through Aug. 4 at which time the Conference will begin evaluating proposals with a selection determined by the final week of August. At the same time, the Big South is continuing its exploration for a single neutral site location for 2025 and beyond.
“Throughout our membership, we have immensely vibrant and supportive communities, superb facilities with top-notch amenities, and enthusiastic campus support that will aid in forging meaningful and impactful partnerships,” added Montgomery. “In addition, this will allow for advance fan engagement, promotion and community outreach efforts that will continue the previous two years of growing and celebrating our men’s and women’s basketball programs competing together for bids to the NCAA Tournament.”
