Myrtle Beach and Coastal Carolina have secured a bid to host the Big South men's and women's basketball tournaments for the next three years. The tournament will take place at CCU's new Student Recreation and Convocation Center which is set to debut at the start of the 2012-13 season.
"We received four excellent bids to host our Basketball Championships,” said Big South Commissioner Kyle B. Kallander in a press release “This was not an easy decision for the CEOs. Ultimately they chose the bid from Myrtle Beach/Coastal Carolina, and we are looking forward to taking our marquee event to the Grand Strand for the next three years. We are also very appreciative of all the bids and interest we received.”
The tournaments will be combined and played together with final dates and formats being finalized during Big South executive meetings in Hilton Head. Previous Big South basketball tournaments had first round and quarterfinal games being played on campus sites, with semifinals held at the #1 seed determined by the regular season standings. In the past, men's and women's tournaments were held on separate weekends at different sites. Now all quarterfinal games in both the men's and women's basketball games will be played in Conway during the same week.
The Myrtle Beach/Coastal bid topped three other submissions from Winthrop/Rock Hill, UNC-Asheville and Winston-Salem, NC.
Cliff Ellis Show feature from February, 2012: A tour of the new convocation center