Tuesday, IHSA announced that the IHSA Boys Basketball State Finals will return to the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign and the State Farm Center beginning with the 2021 state tournament.
The past 25 years the state finals have been held at Carver Arena of Bradley University in Peoria.
“We see this as the passing of the torch from Peoria to Champaign-Urbana,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “It is bittersweet because there is incredible passion for high school basketball within these two communities, and both have done so much to elevate the state final experience as hosts. The State Farm Center is one of the best arenas in the country, and we are excited to crown state champions there once again. The timing simply felt right to make a change as the tournament format shifts in 2021.”
The event was originally held in Champaign from 1919-1995 before shifting to Peoria.
The winning bid will encompass the next three seasons, running through 2023.
Girls Basketball will remain at Redbird Arena in Normal, where it has been hosted since 1992.
Other news out of the Board of Directors meeting included announcing that Stage 2 of the Return to Play plan is set to coincide with the transition to Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan and 20 Contact Days will be allowed, while the no contact “dead period” that was scheduled for August 3-9 has been eliminated.
Finally, IHSA announced that they will host a girls wrestling state tournament beginning in the 2021-2022 season. Other specifics have yet to be announced.
