Charlotte’s Bojangles’ Coliseum has been awarded the Big South Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships from 2021-23, the conference announced Tuesday.
The move marks the first time since 2003 that Big South tournament games will be played on a neutral site and just the fifth time for that distinction in the conference’s 36-year history. Since 2016, Big South tournament games have been held at either a pre-determined campus site or at the home court of the highest seeds.
Charlotte was selected from a group of finalists that included Winston-Salem and Hampton, Virginia.
The event will fill a void left by the CIAA basketball tournament relocating to Baltimore beginning in 2021. That event had been held in Charlotte since 2006.
“What made Charlotte really attractive is No. 1, it’s a world-class destination,” Big South Commissioner Kyle Kallander said in a statement. “Charlotte is centrally located in our footprint, so travel is manageable for Big South fans, and there are fantastic hotels, shopping and entertainment options.”
The 2021 tournament will feature a minimum of eight Big South men’s and women’s basketball teams. It is tentatively scheduled for March 2-7, 2021.
Big South schools include: Campbell University, Charleston Southern University, Gardner-Webb University, Hampton University, High Point University, Longwood University, Presbyterian College, Radford University, UNC Asheville, USC Upstate and Winthrop University.
Previous neutral sites for the conference tournament have included Civic Center of Anderson, South Carolina (men’s only, 1991-92); North Charleston Coliseum, South Carolina (men’s only, 1993-94); Asheville Civic Center (men’s and women’s, 1999-2000) and Roanoke Civic Center, Virginia (men’s and women’s, 2002-03).
