Amongst at least five hotly-contested games, and improved attendance over the past three seasons, the question of whether seven divisions of basketball is justified was on everyone’s mind at the state tournament. All you had to do…was ask.
At the conclusion of Saturday’s Lutheran East-Columbus Academy Division V title game…a familiar official asked me what I thought of the quality of what I’d seen through Divisions III, IV, II and V. And, he added, “Are you going to write anything nice now about seven divisions?”
I smiled at his question, considering then, and what I’m about to share with you now my up-to-the-moment impressions of the first expanded season. And, as another media member suggested…if seven is better, why not nine?
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Let me first say that attendance was up, and more engaged than with the decline witnessed over the previous five years, both Schottenstein and UD Arena. The atmosphere was exciting.
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And let me say that the competitiveness in at least five of the seven games graded between good, and outright great!
Let me also say that I think that separating the semi-final and the final weekends had something to do with heightened interest and better attendance. From my own perspective I think to have had twice the number of basketball games in three days would have been overload. As it was, people came to see the ultimate game, and seemed OK with paying $16, like going to a movie or restaurant you want to experience.
Frankly, I don’t know how to mitigate the semi-final round of the tournament – when or where – but my sense is that too many games in a span of one weekend is a bit like branding cattle. Keep the line going…we’ve got a schedule to keep.
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I did hear some of the traditional complaints about Dayton, as opposed to the Schottenstein Center, but in comparison to the past…not much. I contend that UD Arena is both the best basketball facility in the state, and basketball is to southwest Ohio what football is to northeast Ohio. Dayton is where this event should be!
Concession prices…are really high, but that’s a UD thing, not the OHSAA. And ‘cashless’ just sucks. Lazy, and risky to consumers.
But if you ask, and if you listen, the majority of sentiment among knowledgeable fans this weekend was that the tournament was not better because of seven divisions. It was just longer, and confusing.
“The best teams are here, four divisions or seven,” said a follower of the Monroe Central Seminoles, from Monroe County. “That’s what I care about.”
Another from Delaware County added: “This is a money thing, disguised as a basketball decision. Somebody’s making bank. More divisions just ups the ante.”
And then this notion from an Auglaize County MAC follower.
Maysville coach David Brown holds the trophy net for Division V. A year ago, the same Maysville would have been formidable in Division IV.
“Instead of expanding the tournament to have more schools, why not do a better job with the schools they have. MAC schools that are high seeds should not be playing each other in the second round. Move them around to other regions, and don’t tell me you can’t do that if you’re asking Russia to drive to Bowling Green [for a state semi-final].”
But to answer that person’s question more directly…no, there’s really nothing nice to write about seven divisions of basketball that’s basketball-related, with the hope that someday the level of competition rises to the old standard of four divisions. But what I think really isn’t the issue, because……!
More than any other reporter you can find…I probably spent a thousand miles over the summer and fall driving the state asking community members, coaches and administrators from rural districts THEIR opinions, and particularly across southern Ohio – east from Gallipolis to Portsmouth in the west. And what I found, generally, was: “It’s fine the way it is. We have more important things to address in our district than [more divisions of basketball].”
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Some coaches I visited shared: “It depends on whether you want better basketball, or more basketball?”
In football-crazy Ironton, a retired administrator told me in January: “There’s just not enough athletes to maintain a higher competitive standard in seven divisions. Basketball is a skills sport.”
He added. “I’ve never felt there was a competitive disadvantage. Bigger schools do, I guess, but do something to fix that. Five [divisions] would have been enough.”
So yes, five of the seven games were exciting, entertaining, and well-attended. But to say anyone’s been won over to seven divisions because more is better…there’s hardly consensus. Read David Briggs’ insightful article published recently in the Toledo Blade (https://www.toledoblade.com/sports/high-school/2025/03/08/briggs-ohsaa-demoting-girls-basketball-final-four-games-small-gyms-hypocritical/stories/20250308106).
For the sake of transparency (a word thrown about loosely), ask your school district if it was contacted by the OHSAA over whether they’d benefit from more divisions. The expansion was said to be member-driven, but few claim they were asked.
Finally, cut to the chase and ask if they believe it’s about inclusion or finance?
Or ask the man from Monroe County, who just wants good basketball. Others agree.
Less is probably more.
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