The RoundHouse | 7/8/2019 9:00:00 AM

In March, Mike Ross sat on the baseline at Tulsa's BOK Center and watched NCAA Tournament men's basketball. Brad Pittman watched on TV from his home. 
 
The calls and texts sailed back and forth, not about dunks and buzzer-beaters. The games are secondary to their scrutiny. Why is that water-cooler placed in a potentially dangerous path? Should someone sweep the court more often?
 
They are planning for March 2021 when the tournament returns to Intrust Bank Arena. 
 
In those type of details, a successful tournament exists.
 
Pittman, who serves as tournament director when NCAA basketball comes to Wichita, is Wichita State's chief planner, greeter and salesman for connecting to those type of events. Two successful bids for NCAA men's basketball and two for the women highlight those efforts for Pittman, recently promoted to senior associate athletic director for facilities and operations, and the university.
 
"He's done a fantastic job bringing entertainment to this community, both on our campus and outside of our campus," Wichita State athletic director Darron Boatright said. "He's shown an ability to lead others. He's shown an ability to put on multiple events at the same time."
 
With this momentum, Boatright and Pittman are pondering more events for the future. Wichita's growing number of facilities, hotels and the relationship with the NCAA allow them to think big.
 
The resume already includes NCAA women's basketball in 2011 (first and second rounds) with a regional coming to Intrust Bank Arena in 2022. The NCAA men visited the arena in 2018 and return in 2021 with the first and second rounds. Wichita State hosted its first NCAA volleyball games in 2017 at Koch Arena. Later this month, the $2-million The Basketball Tournament comes to Koch Arena with alumni teams from Wichita State, Kansas, Kansas State and others. 
 
Events such as those – as well as the NBC World Series at Eck Stadium and numerous high school events – happen because of many contributions. 
 
Help from Visit Wichita, the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission and government entities is crucial.
 
Intrust Bank Arena's opening in 2010 provided a suitable venue. Eisenhower National Airport's opening in 2015 boosted visitors' first impression. New hotels provided a vital piece of the bid process.
 
Pittman, who came to Wichita State from Western Kentucky in 2004, credits the rise of Wichita State men's basketball with giving the city and university proof of passion to show the NCAA.
 
"Without Shocker basketball, I'm not sure it becomes a reality," he said. "For them, it's about creating an exciting atmosphere and selling tickets so that student-athletes can have an enjoyable experience. They saw how we embraced our team and they gave us an opportunity."
 
Ross served as media coordinator for the NCAA women in 2011 and the men in 2018. In March, he went to Tulsa to work as a photo steward and, more important, observe and report as part of Wichita's preparations for 2021. He thinks back to those phone conversations when he describes why Pittman gets big events done.
 
"He's constantly asking questions – 'I wonder what it would be like if we did this?'" Ross said. "I don't think that happens a lot with folks that do the job that he does. It's easy to get lost in a to-do list of a game, of a day, of a season. Brad was able to see the bigger picture – 'If we've got fans coming from this direction with the parade, how does that impact us traffic-wise, how does that impact us entry-wise?'"
 
Pittman handed media duties – one of the biggest chores surrounding the event – to Ross. 
 
"He gave me carte blanche on the media side of things," Ross said. "His ability to train folks up and have them prepared – we walked into that building on game day and there wasn't a lot of tension because we knew what we were doing."
 
When an event comes with a 300-plus page handbook, delegation is necessary.
 
"The first thing is understanding you can't do it all," Pittman said. "You have to have good people in good places. Trust that they're going to do their jobs."
 
The 2018 men's tournament at Intrust Bank Arena started with around 14,000 fans watching the open practices. School-children accounted for around 4,000 of those fans. The presence of Kansas helped significantly. The combination of all factors gave Wichita a strong opening play in the eyes of the NCAA.
 
"It's going to be hard-pressed for us to even recreate that," Pittman said. "You have 14,000 people here to watch an open practice day, it's probably unprecedented. I don't know if it will ever happen again. That atmosphere, it was almost better than the game atmosphere."
 
By the end of the weekend, Intrust Bank Arena had hosted the event many Wichitans begged for when voting in favor of a sales tax in 2004 to fund construction. The NCAA made its approval clear when it awarded Wichita the 2021 games. Pittman is preparing for another bid cycle (for 2023-2026 tournaments) in August.
 
"I feel confident the men will come back, but I also don't want to be complacent and just assume that it's going to happen," he said.
 
While the men's NCAA will grab most of the attention, Ross points to the prestige of the women's regional round coming in 2022.
 
"Somebody's going to come in here and play and cut down those nets and go to the Final Four," Ross said. "That's a destination-type tournament. To get that when you're competing against the Tulsa's and the Omaha's and the Kansas City's and the Oklahoma City's of the world - that's a true testament to his leadership and the fact they trust Wichita is going to put on the best show they can possibly put on."
 
Recently, an NCAA representative toured Wichita as part of Wichita State's bid to hold a men's basketball recruiting weekend at Koch Arena and other facilities. The event would bring in invited teams and coaches from around the country for a weekend of games. 
 
Then there are bigger goals open for discussion. 
 
NCAA men's basketball regionals usually go to bigger cities and bigger arenas. Intrust Bank Arena's seating capacity of around 15,000, however, meets the NCAA specifications for that round leading into the Final Four.
 
Pittman also enjoys thinking about the NCAA volleyball Final Four. 
 
"Are there other events, NCAA events, that make sense for the university and the city?" he said. "We've dabbled with – does the volleyball Final Four make sense? Is that something we could pull off? Omaha's had it. Kansas City's had it. We have the facility for it. Can we pull it off? I think those are some conversations that need to happen."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.