The Atlantic 10 Conference announced Thursday that its 2021 men’s basketball tournament will be co-hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Richmond.
Per the conference’s release, Richmond’s Robins Center will host the two opening round games on March 10 and the semifinals and finals on March 13 and 14, and the Robins Center and VCU’s Siegel Center will split the four second-round games on March 11 and four quarterfinal games on March 12.
The campuses of Richmond and VCU are six miles apart in the city of Richmond, so teams will all be in one geographic location, albeit at different sites.
“This decision is a great example of exceptional collaboration between the A-10 membership, our media partner NBC Sports, Barclays Center and our A-10 COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee. Independently both VCU and Richmond submitted proposals to host, so their willingness to combine efforts and support the league’s best interest to separate the days with four games is truly appreciated,” A-10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade said in the conference’s release. “The fact that we have two premier arenas, within six miles of each other, willing to host is a tremendous advantage for the A-10 in our goal to provide the safest, best experience for our teams, coaches and campus communities. A-10 members Dayton, Duquesne, George Mason and Saint Louis submitted proposals to host and each would have provided an excellent option. I wish to thank them for their time, work and effort and willingness to host the championship.”
The conference’s release also touted the co-hosting strategy allowing for “operational efficiencies in implementing comprehensive health and safety plans by establishing two highly COVID-precautionary controlled environments,” as well as benefits for teams (additional time and space for pre-and post-game activities) and its broadcast partners (consecutive game times, instead of extended time between games).
The A-10 announced earlier in January that the tournament would not be held as scheduled at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center due to COVID-19 concerns, and would be moved to an on-campus location TBD.
This will be the first time since 2004 that the full tournament has been held at a campus location, when the University of Dayton hosted the event.
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