CIAA Tournament: Half family reunion, half sporting event


As February turns into March, most college basketball fans turn their attention to March Madness and the NCAA Tournament.

But with all the tradition and fanfare the NCAA Tournament creates, all the excitement pales in comparison to the CIAA Tournament. The nation’s oldest historically black basketball tournament is marked on the calendar of HBCU fans and party goers. The third most attended basketball tournament for all divisions of NCAA, the CIAA tourney is half family reunion, half sporting event.

The first tournament was set in Washington DC and was a massive success at the time with a 2,000-seat sellout. Today the tournament has a new home in Charlotte, NC. In the city’s fifth year of hosting the event, a record 176,000 fans and party goers converged on the Queen City for a week of fun and basketball.

Fans come from across the country, not just for the games but for the celebration that is the CIAA tournament. Each year, celebrities from all parts of the entertainment industry also converge on the tournament for parties and social gatherings that rival Super Bowl Weekend.

This year, will be no different. Acts like Drake and Wiz Khalifa down to hip-hop greats like Dougie Fresh, Slick Rick and Kurtis Blow party alongside sports greats and movie stars all celebrating the history of the CIAA tournament and HBCU’s.

Recently ESPN has picked up coverage of the tournament, making the action available to more that 157 million homes across the globe. In 2010 the tournament entered into a deal with TV One to broadcast the men’s quarterfinals and semi-finals.

As we inch closer to the CIAA tournament’s centennial year, it’s for certain that this year’s tournament will be major for die hard fans and those just looking for a good party.

The CIAA tournament kicks off February 28 and runs through March 5. For more information on the CIAA tournament including official event parties and game schedules log on to ciaatournament.org.

by Rodney King / @Mehkavelli


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.