DAYTON — The UD Arena will host the Atlantic 10 men’s basketball championship game this season. The rest of the tournament will still be played in Richmond, Virginia.
Having the championship game in Dayton is still exciting for several fans.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancelation of the 2020 A-10 tournament and for those that went to Brooklyn to watch the Flyers play still remember that disappointment.
“We were being Flyer Fanatics last year we went to Hawaii and then we were gonna go to the A-10 Tournament and found out I was going to have the most expensive pizza night I’ve ever had in my life because we had pizza for dinner and the next morning we flew back to Dayton,” Bob Corrado, a UD season ticket holder, said.
Corrado remembers sitting in section 101, row 5, right behind the basket as Obi Toppin cut down the net after the Flyers had won the regular season A-10 championship.
To go from that to the season being canceled was stunning.
Many have said that at least having the tournament at all is a step back to normal.
“I still think it’s going to be a while until we’re back to where it was like last year where it’s just kind of a free for all and people do what they want to do but you can feel it, kind of you know, opening up a little bit,” Larry Adkisson, the general manager of the Milano’s on Brown Street, said.
Even though it’s just the championship game fans are looking forward to it.
“I really was hoping they would have done the whole tournament here but I can see the reasoning for doing it in Richmond too,” Corrado said.
The impact this game could have on the area’s economy will depend on a variety of factors.
“Which teams are in there, if it’s Saint Louis, VCU, if it’s two of the top tier A-10 teams I could see a lot of people wanting to go see that,” Adkisson said.
It hasn’t been announced yet how many fans will be allowed to attend the game or how tickets will be made available. However, attendance at Atlantic 10 regular season games has been severely limited.
“I’m really glad to see the tournament here I wish I would go” Corrado said. “I’m an older gentleman so I don’t really want to be in an arena packed with people right now but for the most part we’ve loved what’s gone on Anthony Grant has done a great job.”
While UD is not expected to make the A-10 championship game sitting 8th in the standings as of February 18th.
If the Flyers could make it to the championship game not only would the team get a home game and a shot at the NCAA Tournament but the excitement could be a big boost for restaurants like Milano’s.
“People would still want to gravitate to this area because as everybody knows this is kind of the hot bed for college basketball,” Adkisson said.