HPU to host The Big South Conference
October 17, 2023
High Point University and the Triad wait in anticipation as they expect more
than 20,000 visitors to attend the Big South Championships at the Nido and
Mariana Qubein Arena in March 2024. The university won the bid to host the
Big South Championships for both men’s and women’s basketball from
March 6 to March 10. This is expected to boost the economy in the Triad and for the very first time, the tournaments will be held in the Qubein Center.
According to Fox 8, this event will bring in “a huge economic impact of $7 million.” With people coming from all over, this may seem overwhelming, but High Point has seen this before.
The community is preparing to host these visitors in an effective way by having plenty of room for all to come in and enjoy the event. According to Fox 8, “550 total hotel rooms are already reserved for visiting teams, bands and visitors.”
“High Point is used to hosting major events as we host the Bi-annual High Point Market with an estimated 75,000 visitors,” said Melody Burnett, president of the organization Visit High Point.
“We will use hotels, retail, restaurants and transportation not only in our city, but in our county,” Burnett said. “There are a number of short-term home rentals and area hotels that are within a short driving distance to the university.”
The community is taking the time to plan ahead and prepare for this event extensively. Burnett said that grocery stores and other businesses, “communicate through HPU’s partner programs on the expectations as well as the local Visitor Center to plan their calendars and staffing accordingly.”
Even with all this planning, issues could still arise.
“There could be some wait times at restaurants, however with plenty of notice, our partners can make ample accommodations. We as a community are accustomed to serve and manage large scale events with ease,” said Burnett.
HPU and the community surrounding the university are eager to host the tournaments.
“Our city hosts the Big South Track and Field, Volleyball and Baseball tournaments, so we are proud to be home to Big South across the board,” Burnett said.
Aside from impacting the community, hosting the tournament could give HPU’s basketball teams an advantage.
Playing in front of a home crowd has proved to be beneficial for other teams around the Big South. According to the data collected by Fox News, 7 out of 13 of Winthrop’s Big South Championship wins were hosted in Winthrop Coliseum.
On the women’s side, according to the Big South Sports, 6 out of 10 of Radford’s Big South Championship wins were hosted in their home arena, the Dedmon Center.
“Statistics, I think in Division I basketball say that the home team wins,” said Dan Hauser, athletic director at High Point University. “I think, I believe it’s like 70% of the time in Division I basketball.
“If we can have an advantage in our own building, you know, shooting in that building and having a good feeling about shooting the basketball in that space and a basket goes in and we get one more point than the other team, then it'd be well worth our investment,” Hauser said.
Hauser said he is excited for the atmosphere, because students will be here to cheer on the teams.
“And so spring break ends before the first tournament game starts,” Hauser said. “So students will be here for all the tournament.”
Staff will be stretched and they will have to put in long hours to show all that High Point has to offer, but Hauser said “my biggest concern is we, we win.”
Other than hoping for the teams to win the championships Hauser is focused on the impact High Point leaves on visitors.
“We want to show anybody visiting from out of town, a great experience, a great fan experience. We want to have this be a galvanizing event for our community and our campus,” Hauser said.
High Point University and the community surrounding it have worked very hard in order to prepare for this event and they are eager to show off all that High Point University and High Point City has to offer.
