Wednesday, November 10th 2021, 4:30 pm
The state's largest high school basketball tournaments are returning to the western half of the state.
“After evaluating the bids we received and having further discussion with each site, the bid from the University of Oklahoma was the best one for our member schools," Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association Executive Director David Jackson said.
The move to Norman breaks a 12-year run of the tournaments being played in the Mabee Center at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa. The 128-mile shift to the southwest is sure to be a welcome move for schools and businesses in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.
“One side of the state it works better for than the other, but again, we’ve been at the Mabee Center for the past 12 years and that seem to work well even for those schools on the west side,” Jackson said. “We hope the same thing happens in the three years that we are going to be at the Lloyd Noble.”
The OSSAA received bids from OU, OSU and ORU. Jackson said things like parking and the venues' enthusiasm all played a part in the decision, but perhaps the biggest consideration is the cost.
He said ORU's digital ticketing software is substantially more expensive than the OSSAA's ticketing partner.
“We weren’t willing to pass that on to the patrons, so it would amount to owe significant loss to the association to take on that additional cost,” Jackson said.
Norman leaders said the tournament will not only be a boost for local athletes, but also the local economy.
“It’s a tremendous economic impact for the community,” said Dan Schemm with Visit Norman. “When you go and come to a tournament like this, you’re spending between $200 and $300 a day on average, so that has a tremendous impact on direct spend into our local economy.”
“We’re excited to share a court that has featured many great Sooner players with the outstanding high school teams and fans from our state,” OU Athletics Director Joe Castiglione said in a statement. “It will be our great honor to provide all of them with a first-class experience and memories to last a lifetime.”
The 2022 Class 6A-5A Basketball State Tournaments will be held March 10 to 12.
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