Greenville will host first and second round games of the 2017 NCAA men’s basketball championship at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Friday and Sunday, March 17 and 19.
Furman University and the Southern Conference will serve as co-hosts.
Dave Edwards, President and CEO of the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport District, alluded to the bid submitted to the NCAA at Tuesday’s announcement of GSP becoming the fixed base operator (FBO). “We are hoping to hear soon on a bid we submitted and envision seeing private planes parked all over here,” Edwards said with a smile. He was referring to Cerulean becoming GSP’s commercial and general aviation FBO.
The selection of Greenville allows the NCAA to keep a regional in the same geographic region. Greenville still would help a potential top seed from the Atlantic Coast Conference if a team were a candidate.
The Wellness Arena hosted Clemson University home games last season when Littlejohn Coliseum was undergoing a renovation.
Greenville last hosted first and second round games in the NCAA men’s regional in 2002.
South Carolina was put on the NCAA’s banned sites for championships while the Confederate flag flew above the capitol in Columbia. It has been removed.
The championships were moved from Greensboro, N.C. because of that state’s bathroom bill, HB2. South Carolina’s legislature did not consider that bill last year.