Champaign-Urbana wins bid for IHSA boys’ basketball state finals

The IHSA boys basketball state finals will move to Champaign-Urbana beginning in 2021.

After being held in Peoria for 25 years, the State Farm Center won the bid as part of a joint proposal from the University of Illinois, the Fighting Illini Athletic Department, State Farm Center, Visit Champaign County, and the Champaign-Urbana communities.

“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.”

Known as Illinois’ March Madness, the IHSA boys state tournament was held in Champaign-Urbana from 1919 to 1995. The proposal is a three-year bid encompassing the 2021 (March 11-13), 2022 (March 10-12) and 2023 (March 9-11) state tournaments.

“We are thrilled with today’s news that the Illinois high school boys’ basketball state finals will return home to the campus of the University of Illinois,” Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman said in a statement. “We are grateful to the IHSA and its leadership for choosing State Farm Center and Champaign-Urbana to host the state finals. We are humbled by their confidence in our community, which I know will come together to provide the players, families and fans of the state’s best teams a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Champaign-Urbana’s bid included interactive fan elements around the arena, city and campus marketing initiatives, a special in-arena area for parents with children, and 13 local hotels locking in three-year prices for fans below rack rate. 

The IHSA’s Wheelchair Basketball State Tournament and Special Olympics Illinois Unified Basketball Tournament will continue to be held in conjunction with the state tournament in Champaign-Urbana as well.

“We are ecstatic to welcome the IHSA boys’ state basketball tournament back to its original home at the University of Illinois,” Jayne DeLuce, president and CEO of Visit Champaign County, said in a media release statement. “Our community has evolved into a much broader vision incorporating sports, education, technology and a place of diverse culture that will provide incredible experiences for all involved. We are ready to embrace a new tradition of welcoming teams, families, fans, officials and media for the experience of a lifetime.”

Illinois State University’s Redbird Arena will continue to be the host of the girls’ state tournament finals. The IHSA girls state tournament has been held at ISU’s Redbird Arena since 1992 after being at Champaign’s Assembly Hall from 1978.