The Illinois High School Boys Basketball Championship is a
single elimination
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
tournament
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
held each spring in the United States. It is organized by the
Illinois High School Association
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National Fed ...
(IHSA).
From 1908 to 1971, it was a single tournament contested by nearly all high schools in
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
. In 1972, the tournament was divided into two divisions based on school size, (A and AA), each producing a separate champion. In 2008, the tournament was divided into four separate divisions (1A, 2A, 3A, and 4A being the larger schools). The Illinois High School Basketball Championship was the first tournament to be called 'March Madness'. The term was first used about the Illinois tournament in 1939, decades before it was used about
NCAA basketball tournament.
Advancement
Under the current four class system, teams are assigned to a class, based on the student population, with adjustments made for single gender schools, and for schools which are not four year high schools. Within the class, schools are geographically assigned to a regional, which is, in turn assigned to a sectional which, finally, is assigned to a super-sectional. Regional tournaments are generally between four and eight teams, depending on the number of teams in a geographic area in a particular class. There are four regional tournaments within each sectional and two sectionals within each super-sectional. Each tournament is single elimination.
Within the regional, coaches seed the teams. The winners of the four regional tournaments then meet in a single elimination sectional tournament. The teams are not re-seeded after regional play, and the winners of the regional tournament are randomly assigned, in advance, to play the winner of one of the other regionals in the sectional semifinals.
For example, in 2011, in the Class 2A
Casey Sectional, there were four regionals:
Flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''.
E ...
,
Monticello
Monticello ( ) was the primary plantation of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 26. Located just outside Charlottesville, V ...
,
St. Joseph
Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...
and
Robinson Robinson may refer to:
People and names
* Robinson (name)
Fictional characters
* Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719
Geography
* Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 1960 ...
. Three of these regionals consisted of five teams and one of six. Before the playoffs began, the IHSA assigned the winner of the Flora Regional (which ended up being
Teutopolis
Teutopolis is a village in Effingham County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 1,618.
Geography
Teutopolis is located in northeastern Effingham County at (39.132125, -88.478435). U.S. Route 40 (National Roa ...
) to play the winner of the Monticello Regional (
Champaign St. Thomas). The winners of the St. Joseph and Robinson regionals played in the other regional semifinal, with the winners of the two semifinals met in the sectional championship.
The winner of the sectional tournament then faces the winner of another (geographically close) sectional champion for the super-sectional championship. This winner advances to the state tournament.
The state tournament in each class is composed of the four super-sectional winners, and are randomly assigned to play each other in the semifinal round. The winners of the semifinal round compete for the state championship the next evening, while the semifinal losers compete for third place the next day. The state semifinals are generally held on a Friday, with the championship and third place games held on Saturday. Classes 1A and 2A share the same weekend, while 3A and 4A compete the weekend after that.
Under the current four class system, each class has four super sectional games, and thus 8 sectionals. Each sectional has four regionals, giving each class 32 regional tournaments.
The format in the two class system (1972–2007) was similar. In the two class system, each class had 8 super-sectional games, and thus 16 sectionals and 64 regionals. The winners of the 8 super-sectional games advanced to the state tournament. On the Friday of the state tournament, the 8 winners were randomly assigned to play each other in a quarterfinal game. The winners advanced to the semifinals, which were played on the next day. The semifinal losers played for third place in the early evening, while the semifinal winners contested the state championship in the evening. Class A would play one weekend, and Class AA the next weekend.
Prior to 1972, when there was only one tournament for all schools to compete in, there were a variety of formats in use.
The IHSA Girls Basketball tournament is organized in exactly the same way as the boys' tournament; however, the girls' tournament begins two weeks before the boys' tournament.
Title game results
1908–1920
1921–1940
1941–1960
1961–1971
1972–1981
1982–1991
1992–2007
2008–present
Sites
The tournament was originally organized only with the permission of the IHSA, but after one year was taken over by the Association. The tournament spent 77 years playing at the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...
(UIUC) before moving to
Bradley University
Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,400 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in five colleges. The ...
's Carver Arena in
Peoria from 1996-2019. The 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, and on June 15, 2020, the IHSA announced the tournament would move back to UIUC's
State Farm Center.
![Peoria Civic Center](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Peoria_Civic_Center.JPG)
* 1908:
Oak Park YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
* 1909-1910:
Bloomington YMCA
* 1911, 1913:
Bradley University
Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,400 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in five colleges. The ...
* 1912, 1914:
Decatur YMCA
* 1915:
Millikin University
Millikin University is a private university in Decatur, Illinois. It was founded in 1901 by prominent Decatur businessman James Millikin and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Media
Decaturian
The ''Decaturian'', also known as ...
* 1918:
Springfield High School
* 1919-1925:
Kenney Gym at UIUC
* 1926-1962:
Huff Gym at UIUC
* 1963-1995, 2022-present:
State Farm Center at UIUC
* 1996–2019:
Peoria Civic Center
Peoria Civic Center is an entertainment complex located in downtown Peoria, Illinois. Designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Philip Johnson and John Burgee, it has an arena, theater, exhibit hall and meeting rooms. It opened in 1982 and ...
Additional events
The Happening
In 1992, the IHSA added a
three-point contest and a
slam dunk
A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one ...
contest (collectively called "The Happening") to coincide with the boys basketball state series. The state level of each contest is held on the Thursday evening before their respective class' state semifinals (quarterfinals before 2008), with each class crowning a champion in each contest on the Saturday of their state championship game. After the Class 3A and 4A champions have been determined, there is a final "King of the Hill" contest among the four class champion to crown the overall champion.
The slam dunk contest has no preliminaries prior to the Thursday competition of the week of the state finals. Players are nominated by the coaches of their regional or sectional tournament. Those willing to participate advance automatically to the state preliminaries.
[IHSA "Happening" Terms and Conditions; accessed 12 June 2009](_blank)
/ref>
The three point contest starts at the beginning of the regional tournaments. Each team may select up to 4 players to compete, with a total of four players advancing to the next level of competition. As teams advance through regional and sectional, the winning individuals advance, irrespective of their team's success.
March Madness Experience
Since 1996, in addition to the on court activities, the IHSA has set up an interactive event at the Peoria Civic Center called the March Madness Experience. Set up in the Exhibit Hall, the "Experience" includes interactive games and skill challenges for fans to participate in. Big screen televisions allow fans to watch the current game being played on the court, and radio and television broadcasts originate from the floor. The "Experience" opens on the Thursday of each week of the State Championship Tournament, and remains open throughout the tournament.
Wheelchair Basketball
Starting in 2004, the first weekend of the State Championship Tournament also hosts the state high school championship for wheelchair basketball. The tournament is a round robin tournament, and is composed of teams of high school students, though the teams are not necessarily affiliated with a particular school.
Century of Memories
The IHSA celebrated 100 years of the IHSA State Tournament in the 2006-07 season. A list of " 100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament" was assembled. Several of the living members of that team made appearances at select games across the state, and signed a "Ball of Fame" which was subsequently raffled off at the state tournament. Commemorative books and videos were available. Among the notable members of the "Legends" team were Kenny Battle
Kenneth R. Battle (born October 10, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player.
High school career
In 1984, Battle led Aurora West High School to third place in the Illinois High School Association Class AA state basketball tourn ...
, Lou Boudreau, Jim Brewer
Jim or JIM may refer to:
* Jim (given name), a given name
* Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James
* Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy
* OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism
* ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring
* ''Jim ...
, Quinn Buckner
William Quinn Buckner (born August 20, 1954) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played collegiate basketball for the Indiana University Hoosiers, and won a national championship in 1976. He was a captain of both ...
, Landon "Sonny" Cox, Bruce Douglas, Dwight "Dike" Eddleman, LaPhonso Ellis
LaPhonso Darnell Ellis (born May 5, 1970) is an American retired basketball player. He was selected by the National Basketball Association's Denver Nuggets as the fifth overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft.
Early career
He was an outstanding high ...
, Melvin Ely
Melvin Anderson Ely (; born May 2, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player who used to be an assistant coach for the Canton Charge of the NBA G League.
A 6'10", , power forward–center from Fresno State, Ely was drafted ...
, Michael Finley
Michael Howard Finley (born March 6, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player who is the Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 15 seasons in the ...
, C. J. Kupec, Marcus Liberty
Marcus Liberty (born October 27, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player. He played four seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Liberty played college basketball for the University of Illinois.
High school
After ...
, Shaun Livingston
Shaun Patrick Livingston (born September 11, 1985) is an American professional basketball executive and former player. Livingston entered the league directly out of high school and was selected fourth by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2004 NBA dr ...
, Cuonzo Martin
Cuonzo LaMar Martin (born September 23, 1971) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the former head coach of the Missouri Tigers men's basketball team.
High school
Playing alongside LaPhonso Ellis as a sophomore and junior, Ma ...
, Johnny Orr, Andy Phillip, Quentin Richardson
Quentin Lamar Richardson (born April 13, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who was formerly the director of player development for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Q-Rich", he p ...
, Dave Robisch
David George Robisch (born December 22, 1949) is a retired American professional basketball player in the ABA and NBA. Robisch played at the University of Kansas, where he was initiated into the Sigma Nu fraternity. He was positioned at center ...
, Cazzie Russell, Jon Scheyer
Jonathan James Scheyer (, born August 24, 1987) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Duke Blue Devils of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Scheyer led his high school team to an Illinois ...
, Jack Sikma
Jack Wayne Sikma (born November 14, 1955) is an American former professional basketball center. He was a seven-time NBA All-Star with the Seattle SuperSonics, who drafted him in the first round with the eighth overall pick of the 1977 NBA draft. ...
, Isiah Thomas, Frank Williams, and George Wilson.
State title forfeiture
The 2005 Class A state title resulted in the only forfeiture of a state boys basketball title in Illinois history. The title game resulted in a victory for Chicago's Hales Franciscan High School over Winnebago. It was the second year in a row Winnebago had lost in the final game, and was the second time in three years that Hales Franciscan had won.
Hales Franciscan's basketball team had been at the center of problems for over a year. In 2004, the school had been kicked out of the IHSA state series when recruiting violations had been uncovered.
In November, 2005, the IHSA announced that it was suspending Hales Franciscan's membership in the Association, when it was learned that the school's Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) recognition had been lapsed in June, 2003.
In January, 2006, the IHSA announced that due to the lack of recognition (ISBE), Hales Franciscan would forfeit all athletic contests played between June, 2003 and December, 2005, including its 2005 State Championship.IHSA Announcement: ''Board Approves Class Expansion in 2007-08, Penalizes Hales Franciscan''; 11 January 2006; ihsa.org; accessed 12 June 2009
/ref>
See also
* Illinois High School Association
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National Fed ...
* March Madness (disambiguation)
* Peoria, Illinois
Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...
* Will it play in Peoria?
''Will it play in Peoria?'' is an American English figure of speech that is traditionally used to ask whether a given product, person, promotional theme, or event will appeal to mainstream United States audiences or across a broad range of demo ...
—the IHSA often uses "Playing in Peoria" as a part of its advertising for the state championship
References
Also see John Pruett (Illinois High School Career Field Goal Percentage Champion)
External links
Illinois High School Association: Boys Basketball
{{Illinois High School Association
High school sports in Illinois
High school basketball competitions in the United States
Annual sporting events in the United States