Tech Begins Preparation For State Basketball Championships

Tennessee Tech is working to get the campus and Hooper-Eblen Center ready for the TSSAA Division II Basketball Tournament.

Athletic Director Mark Wilson said the university is putting together the seating plan, organizing staff and volunteers. Wilson said hosting the tournament depended on Tech’s own athletic schedule during a busy Spring semester.

“We did talk to our facilities and game management staff about it and the desire to host,” Wilson said. “They were willing to do that. Baseball is on the road that weekend, football is scheduled to be off that weekend. Men’s and women’s basketball are at the Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Championships.”

Wilson said the event will follow the COVID protocols outlined for events by Governor Lee and the Unified Command Group. He said Tech’s experience with state championships played into hosting the tournament.

“I think it helps tremendously and I think they have confidence in the way that we run events,” Wilson said. “We run events just like we do our own Tennessee Tech events, so they know it will be run first-class.”

Wilson said Tech is not only working with TSSAA, but the Chamber of Commerce Visitors Bureau. He said this is an opportunity to highlight the campus and city to new visitors.

“Highlighting the campus as a whole, and recruiting students as a whole and promoting Cookeville and tourism to Cookeville,” Wilson said. “Our main purpose is not for recruiting basketball student-athletes. If that happens out of that, then that’s wonderful because they have been exposed to Tennessee Tech. It’s more about highlighting the campus as a whole and hopefully increasing the admissions to students from these institutions.”

The TSSAA Division II Basketball Tournament will be held Thursday-Saturday. The tournament will be played over three days, with four games played each day.