Alabama State to Host AHSAA Basketball Regional in 2025

The Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) has announced that its Central Regional basketball tournament will return to Alabama State University for the next three years, starting in 2025.

The announcement was made on Friday afternoon by AHSAA, marking a significant development for high school basketball in the region. Montgomery will be the venue for two of the four regional tournaments next winter, with the South Regional set to take place at Garrett Coliseum.

AHSAA executive director Alvin Briggs shared his excitement about the decision. “This is great news, especially for our schools qualifying for the regional tournament from Southwest Alabama,” said Briggs, who is set to retire on September 2. “No longer will schools have to drive past Montgomery, thus reducing travel and increasing the opportunity for more fans from those schools to attend.”

The Northeast Regional tournament will continue to be held at Jacksonville State, and the Northwest tournament at Wallace-Hanceville Community College, both of which have been host sites since the regional format's inception in 1994.

Alabama State’s Acadome has a history of hosting regionals but chose not to do so after the pandemic. Over the past two years, the Central Regional was held at Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham, while the South Regional took place at Garrett Coliseum.

Jason Cable, the athletic director at Alabama State University, expressed his enthusiasm for the event. “We are excited to host the Regional AHSAA tournament on our campus. This is a great opportunity to expose the local and state community to our institution,” Cable said.

The victorious teams from each class in the four regionals will advance to the final four, held at Birmingham’s Legacy Arena.