AHSAA basketball regional to return to ASU's Academe for next three years

Alabama' State’s Dunn-Oliver Acadome becomes the home of the AHSAA Central regional basketball tourney again next February. (Contributed)

By GRAHAM DUNN
The AHSAA announced on Friday that the Central Regional basketball tournament will return to Alabama State’s Dunn-Oliver Academy during the 2024-25 season.
An agreement brings the tourney to the Capital City for the next three years (2025-27).
While the Central Regional will be played at ASU’s 7,400-seat Acadome, the South Regional continues at Garrett Coliseum.
“This is great news, especially for our schools qualifying for the regional from Southwest Alabama,” executive director Alvin Briggs said. “No longer will those schools have to drive past Montgomery, thus reducing travel and increasing the opportunity for more fans from those schools to attend. We are very appreciative of ASU and the City of Montgomery for stepping forward for our member schools.”
ASU was the host site for a regional for many years since the beginning of the format which was instituted in 1994. However, in 2020 when the Covid pandemic spread across the state, ASU elected not to be a host of a tourney.

The Central Regional moved to the Birmingham Crossplex the last two years, which meant several schools qualifying from southwest part of the state traveled north to the Magic City for the tournament while schools in the Mobile and Dothan areas played in Montgomery.
“We are excited to host the Regional AHSAA tournament on our campus. This a great opportunity to expose the local and state community to our institution,” said Alabama State athletic director Dr. Jason Cable. “I would like to thank Alvin Briggs for this opportunity and Crystal Moss and the OEM team for taking the lead on this project.”
Brandon Dean, former director of the Alabama High School Athletic Directors and Coaches Association (AHSADCA) who is now Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Montgomery stated that the goal all along was to have ASU back as a site for the regional.

“Bringing the regionals back to Alabama State and the City of Montgomery has been a goal of Alvin Briggs during his tenure,” Dean said. “It was a pleasure to work with Mr. Briggs and Dr. Cable. This means at least 52 different fan bases and communities will be returning to Montgomery and the campus of Alabama State each year of the agreement.”
The Northeast and Northwest Regional basketball tournaments will continue to be played at Jacksonville State University and Wallace-Hanceville Community College, respectively. Both sites have been hosts for all 30 years since the Regional tourney format was introduced by the AHSAA in 1994.
The South and Central Regionals, while being in Montgomery most of that time, have also been played at various other sites from time to time including Bay Minette, Mobile, Troy and Dothan. The State Tournament semifinals and finals have been played at the BJCC Legacy Arena in Birmingham since 1994 – minus one year when the BJCC was undergoing renovations. It was played at UAB Bartow Arena and Bill Harris Arena that year.