COLUMN: Charmed by the Rocket City

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — I knew y'all were going to be excited when I first heard the news that the 2024 Conference USA Basketball Championships were going to be held in Huntsville, Alabama. But I must admit, seeing the reactions from Blue Raider fans across the mid-state and beyond exceeded my wildest expectations.

Between my social feeds, those of Conference USA and the Middle Tennessee Men's and Women's Basketball feeds, I only saw positive feedback on this announcement, which in today's day and age feels almost impossible sometimes! Of course, so much of that excitement comes from MTSU being, ever so slightly, the closest Conference USA school to Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center, where the conference tournaments will tip off next March.

But there's more to love about the C-USA Tournament in Huntsville than just so many Blue Raiders being able to drive down that have not been able to make it out to Frisco the past few years.

With many of the Blue Raider teams off for the Easter holiday (though a big round of applause to MTSU Baseball for sweeping Western Kentucky over the weekend!), here are some of my observations from tagging along for the announcement press conference and subsequent facility tour with Director of Athletics Chris Massaro and Jacksonville State Athletic Director Greg Seitz, that I think will make Huntsville a great location for next year's tournaments and beyond.

1) A True Basketball Set-Up

I'm always intrigued most in interviews with what subjects give to me unprompted. Many, of course, have eloquent thoughts directly responding to my questions that help me when writing these stories. But I find the nuggets gleaned from just listening to be the most revealing.

Conference USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod gave me one of those moments when we spoke after the announcement press conference on Thursday. Amidst responding to a question about the still-to-be-determined format for the new site, MacLeod said this about the one court set-up in Huntsville.

"We'll have a real basketball arena, which will be nice," MacLeod said. "I know our coaches will appreciate that."

More than anything one heard about The Ford Center at The Star, Conference USA's previous home to the conference tournament, the infamous C-USA Curtain made the most noise. A clever way to make two courts on a full-size football field feel as homey as possible, it quickly became a running punchline throughout the conference. Former WKU Head Coach Rick Stansbury even used one of his final press availabilities in front of the Bowling Green media to blast the set-up at The Star.

Personally, I always enjoyed the two-court set up for what it was. Particularly for fans in attendance, there was a certain charm to be able to watch two games at once or immediately walk over after one game was done to watch the finish of the other.

Those positive novelties, however, were nowhere near enough to overcome the drawbacks of the two-courts, from confusing sounds on the court due to multiple whistles in the arena, the poor sightlines behind the corner (or even to the non-curtain walls, where were pretty far away behind the basket compared to a typical arena) to the TV cameras needing to be a forklift, which often resulted in lower than ideal angles for those watching from home.

All of that is no longer at the Propst Arena, which has hosted a plethora of basketball events over the years. Having been at court level, standing on the covered hockey rink used by the Huntsville Havoc, I can say that sightlines will be normal, and fans will be on both sides of the court, just over 7,000, based on my research, ensuring that the atmosphere will be raucous, particularly when any of the "local" schools (MTSU, Jacksonville State, WKU and eventually Kennesaw State) are involved.

2) Location, Location, Location

In this category, I don't mean so much the macro-location, as convenient as the sub-two-hour drive down 231 will be for those of us in Murfreesboro (though if you dislike curvy roads like myself, I'd recommend taking the I-840 bypass off I-24 to I-65). But rather, I'm referring to how Propst Arena interacts with downtown Huntsville.

It's hard to describe until you visit yourself, but the Propst Arena simultaneously feels tucked away on its own, while also being close enough to so many amenities downtown. Just looking out of the lobby windows, one can spot four different hotels within walking distance of the arena, all just beyond a gorgeous city park that surrounds the local art museum. A plethora of local restaurants and bars are short walks away from the arena, and even shorter walks from the hotels.

Those are all great signs that the conference tournament won't just be a place to drive to and stay at just the arena, but one that will encourage fans to explore all the city of Huntsville has to offer. Huntsville Sports Commission President Mark Russell I think captured that feeling best.

"Our downtown has really changed over the years," Russell told me. "We have a beautiful downtown. This arena is located on a beautiful park. We have bars and restaurants all within walking distance and now many hotels within walking distance. It's going to be a party."

3) Local Community Embracing the Tournament

An underrated aspect of any conference tournament, in my opinion, is how the host city embraces the event. Are locals treating hosting the tournament as a big deal? Are local TV stations and news outlets sending reporters over to report on the event regardless of the schools involved in the games?

Admittedly, I come from a certain perspective on this, having grown up in the heart of ACC Country, where the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. might as well have been a school holiday growing up. But Greensboro, to this day, whenever they get a chance to host that tournament, goes all out for it. I think Huntsville is going to do the same for Conference USA.

"We put out everything that we had to make sure that we could attract them to the City of Huntsville and attract their fans to the City of Huntsville," Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said. "I think they will have a great time here; I think that it will be a great venue for conference play."

The press conference on Thursday had every TV station in the Huntsville market there, along with multiple newspapers in the area. Was Thursday just a nice bit of PR for the city and the region? Of course, something our local papers would cover if it happened at the Murphy Center, for instance.

But in Frisco, being part of the massive Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, the Conference USA Tournaments were one of many things happening in the area. I'd wager to say very few locals knew it was happening if they didn't have a connection to one of the schools involved.

I don't think that will be the case in Huntsville. Will it result in a lot of locals at the tournament? Time will tell. But the restaurants downtown, the hotel workers, the locals you'll meet on the street. They'll know Conference USA is there. And that will make the tournament have even more of buzz than the basketball itself always generates.

Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

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