As Danville wrapped up its 25th NJCAA Division II Men’s National Basketball Tournament, directors of the tournament were looking to the future. Mayor Scott Eisenhauer says he would like to see the NJCAA name Danville as the permanent site for the tournament, instead of being under a three year contract.
”We’d love to get to a point where we no longer have to make that battle every three years. And the reason we would like to do that is because there are investments we would like to make in the tournament – in the college — that we think would heighten the experience the teams have when they come here. But if we’re only guaranteed to have that every three years – if we can’t recoup that investment in a three year period, we’re not going to be able to make that improvement,” said Eisenhauer.
Eisenhauer explained how being named a permanent site could help benefit the tournament.
”You know I think there are – quite honestly – some things inside the gymnasium that we would like to do differently. Quite honestly we would love to also be able to create a basketball experience for fans. That would include giving people the opportunity to dunk a basketball, or shoot over a six-ten defender, or dribble around cones to see if you can get past the defense to score a basket. But there’s a great deal of investment that goes into that,” said Eisenhauer, ”and, so we would need to have a longer-term commitment in order for us to put in the up-front dollars in order to bring that experience to reality.”
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The Mayor says the tournament gives Danville a big economic boost.
”But I’ve got to tell you, I think just as important is the pride that people have in this community serving as the host of this tournament. There are banners in gymnasiums all over the United States that say ‘Destination Danville, Illinois.’ And I think there’s a lot of pride that our people have – and that’s why they volunteer. That’s why they come out and watch games. That’s why when we get ready to put a bid together, they want to write letters. Because they have a great deal of pride in knowing that this community has the capability of not just hosting a national event, but having a reputation of doing it extremely well.”
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Danville Area Community College will still be hosting the National Tournament in 2019 and 2020, but next year a bid has to be submitted again to try to keep it here beyond 2020. The Mayor notes the NJCAA already has a couple of permanent sites for some Division I events – including the Men’s National Basketball and Baseball tournaments. Eisenhauer is not the only one who would like to see Danville selected as a permanent host for the tournament. Some others have also said it would be nice if Danville did not have to bid on the tournament every three years.
