(Boone, IA) — Earlier this week, the Iowa High School Athletic Association announced that the Boys Basketball State Tournament will change venues for the first time in over 60 years — historic Hilton Coliseum in Ames will be the tournament’s new home starting in 2027. In an interview with KSOM/KS 95, the Executive Director of the IHSAA Tom Keating said that before they made the switch, they had to look at the current tournament and ways they could improve it
Keating said that attendance at the basketball state tournament had not gone up or down but he says they overwhelmingly believed that it needed some energy. So they started looking for a new venue that was more conducive to basketball
The final two locations that the IHSAA decided on were the Knapp Center at Drake University and Hilton at Iowa St. and Keating says there were several reasons that made Hilton stand apart
Keating says that Cy Town will not be 100 percent completed by 2027 when the state tournament arrives but he says it will be full go in 2028. Keating says that the IHSAA has had full support from Iowa St. University and Discover Ames and he says leaving the Wells Fargo Arena will not affect the state wrestling tournament in any way which will stay where it is.
Complete Interview with IHSAA Executive Director Tom Keating
