History of the CIAA Tournament
Do you want to know how big the CIAA basketball tournament has become? Ask ESPN, which signed the CIAA as the first Division II conference to have its season ending tournament televised on the station known as the “Leader in Sports.” More than 100,000 fans are expected to attend CIAA 2019, breaking the attendance record set in 2018. Numerous parties turn uptown Charlotte, North Carolina into a non-stop whirlwind of social and celebratory events. Tens of thousands of students, alumni, and fans of the conference will descend on the “Queen City” for CIAA weekend 2019. Referred to as “Super Saturday,” the last day of the event culminates a week that produces a $55 million economic impact for Charlotte.
To understand how the basketball tournament reached its level of immense popularity, we have to go back to the first tournament held more than 75 years ago.
CIAA 2019 Came from a Humble Beginning
The fans who attended CIAA parties in 2018 owe the festive ambiance to the humble start the tournament had in creating and running the conference basketball tournament. During a meeting around the time of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, CIAA president H. C. Perrin suggested to the governing body the league should start a postseason tournament. Sixteen colleges and universities made up the league at the time, including Morgan State and West Virginia State University. Six years passed before the inaugural CIAA basketball tournament took place at Turner’s Arena in Washington D.C. Operating on a shoestring budget of $500, the CIAA attracted about 3,000 fans to watch eight teams the league selected based on strength of schedule.
The First Tournament
Undefeated Lincoln University Lion received the number one seed, followed by Virginia Union, Morgan State, West Virginia State, and North Carolina College. The bottom three teams in the bracket were Winston-Salem Teachers, Virginia State, and Delaware State. Delaware State head coach lost a coin flip with Virginia State head coach Harry Jefferson to take the lowest tournament seed. The winners of the elimination round played in the two semifinal games held on Friday night. Less than 24 hours later, the consolation game preceded the championship matchup that tipped off at 3:30 PM. The terrific initial championship game went into three overtimes, before North Carolina College upset number one seed Virginia Union by the score of 64 to 56.
Different Tournament Homes
The CIAA wanted to find a host city to create a consistent experience for fans. Turner’s Arena held the tournament until 1949, when the conference moved the postseason games to Uline Arena in Washington D.C. The tournament moved for a third time in 1952 to the million dollar Edward P. Hurt Gymnasium located on the Morgan State College campus in Baltimore. When popularity of the event began to rise, tournament organizers need to find a larger venue to accommodate 5,000 fans. The venue chosen was McDougald Gymnasium at North Carolina College located in Durham.
A huge boost in attendance occurred during the 1960s, which prompted the CIAA to move the tournament to Greensboro. Eventually, three Virginia cities hosted the basketball tournament and with the arrival of the 1970s, host cities began to benefit financially from the growing number of parties. Winston-Salem took over as host city in 1994, with Raleigh assuming the host role shortly after that. In 2006, the CIAA tournament and CIAA parties moved to the current home of Charlotte, North Carolina.