North Carolina high school basketball state playoffs adopting a “Final Four” format beginning 2023-24

All regional and state championship games will be held at a single site.

The NCHSAA Board of Directors voted to implement a new format for next season’s state basketball tournaments for boys and girls.

The Board unanimously approved a measure on Wednesday for a “Final Four” format that will include holding all state semifinals and state championships at a single location over the course of six days in early March.

Semifinal games will take place Monday-Thursday and state championships will be held on Friday and Saturday.

The NCHSAA state basketball championships have been taking place at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh and at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill in previous years. Playoff games leading up to the state championships have been taking place at the higher seed’s home court up through the regional finals the last several years.

Wilson Prep won the NCHSAA 1-A boys state title in 2023 / Marc Pruitt photo

There were numerous issues in March during regional championships with high school gymnasiums not having enough space for the demand of people who wanted to attend. There were games when tickets were sold online before the game and ticket holders could not gain entry to the game because the gyms were already maxed out.

The West Rowan girls won the 2023 NCHSAA 3-A state title at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh

Since that time, the NCHSAA has been researching how other state associations hold their basketball championships. NCHSAA staff has reviewed the formats of several other states including Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

The NCHSAA released a model of what this format could look like. The model shows semifinals for the East and West in boys and girls basketball would be held for a single classification on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, with games being played at 12 p.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m., and 6 p.m. State championship games would be played on Friday and Saturday at 12 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 5 p.m., and 7:30 p.m.

The Bishop McGuinness girls won their second straight NCHSAA 1-A state title in 2023 / Marc Pruitt photo

A host city and venue for the new format was not announced during the NCHSAA Board meeting.