WICHITA – Festival Passes are now on sale for the 2021 The Basketball Tournament. The passes are valid for the first four sessions of the tournament. This includes the July 16 and July 17 competition. Prices start as low as $30 for the first four sessions. Festival passes as well as all-session tickets are on sale now at goshockers.com/tickets.
The full bracket will be announced on June 21.
Wichita is one of the regional sites for the 2021The Basketball Tournament (TBT), a 64-team, $1 million winner-take-all event televised live on ESPN. The AfterShocks, Wichita State's alumni team, will serve as the featured team in the 16-team Wichita Regional taking place at Charles Koch Arena, July 16-20, 2021.
Wichita was slated to host a 2020 regional before the COVID-19 pandemic pushed TBT to create a 24-team "bubble" in Columbus, Ohio, making TBT the first sporting event in the United States to crown a champion amidst the nationwide lockdown. As a first-time host site in 2019, Wichita broke the TBT attendance record for four straight days, drawing 20,000 fans to Charles Koch Arena to see Aftershocks compete in their first TBT. The Aftershocks' first game against Iowa United drew a record 7,184 fans.
Former Shocker All-American and New York Knick,
Ron Baker will serve as the General Manager of Wichita State's alumni team, the AfterShocks. Confirmed players for the 2021 TBT include
Samajae Haynes-Jones,
Conner Frankamp,
Markis McDuffie,
Rashard Kelly, Darral Willis, Tyrus McGee and
Jaime Echenique.
Alongside the AfterShocks, fifteen other teams will compete in the Wichita Regional from July 16-20, with all games shown on ESPN. First-round games at Koch Arena will be played Friday, July 16 and Saturday, July 17. Second round games will all be played on Sunday, July 18, and two third round games will be on Tuesday, July 20.
Two teams from Wichita, as well as six other teams from TBT's three remaining regionals, will advance to Championship Weekend at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio, from July 31-Aug. 3.
TBT 2021 will once again feature an open-application process, allowing any team or group of players in the world to apply through TheTournament.com, May 1 - June 15. The 64-team, single-elimination bracket will be released on June 28. The field is expected to consist of international pros, college alumni teams, ex-NBA players, future NBA players and others. The 63-game event will take place July 16 - August 3.
For the fourth year in a row, TBT games will feature the Elam Ending, the end-of-game format adopted by the NBA All-Star game for the past two years, that eliminates the game clock after a certain point and features teams playing to a Target Score.
Regional Host Cities:
● Wichita, Kan. – headlined by AfterShocks (Wichita State alumni) – July 16-20
● Charleston, W.Va. – headlined by Best Virginia (West Virginia alumni) and Herd That (Marshall alumni) – July 17-21
● Columbus, Ohio – headlined by Carmen's Crew (Ohio State alumni) and Red Scare (Dayton alumni) – July 23-27
● Peoria, Ill. – headlined by Always A Brave (Bradley alumni) and House of 'Paign (Illinois alumni) – July 24-28
Championship Weekend in Dayton:
● Quarterfinals – Saturday, July 31
● Semifinals – Sunday, Aug. 1
● $1 Million, Winner-Take-All Championship – Tuesday, Aug. 3
About The Basketball Tournament:
The original home of the Elam Ending, The Basketball Tournament has grown from a unique idea among friends to one of the most exciting and engaging events on the summer sports calendar, with national exposure on ESPN, social media buzz and regional championships across the country - culminating in a winner-take-all $1 million game. Every year it attracts some of the best players in the world. For more information on TBT's eighth season, visit www.thetournament.com
About Wichita State University:
The mission of Wichita State University is to be an essential educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater public good. Wichita State is a doctoral research university enrolling about 15,000 students and offering 59 undergraduate degree programs in more than 150 areas of study in seven undergraduate colleges. The Graduate School offers 45 master's and 12 doctoral degrees that offer study in more than 100 areas.
About Visit Wichita:
Visit Wichita markets the greater Wichita area as a major convention and tourism destination, thereby enhancing the economic development of the city, county, region and state. Visit Wichita is led by president and CEO Susie Santo, and in 2018 travel and tourism contributed more than $1.1 billion in economic impact to the greater Wichita area.
