Coaches polled on expanded tournament

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

The 50^th annual Ohio High School Athletic Association girls basketball state championships will tip off this afternoon at the University of Dayton Arena. Unlike previous years, the weekend won’t include state semifinal games, but will feature three additional divisions.

The decision by the OHSAA to add divisions V, VI and VII and split the the semifinals from the finals in girls’ and boys’ basketball has come under scrunity by coaches, fans and the media. The change was adopted approximately one year ago without a vote by OHSAA member schools. In addition, the new and expanded format was implemented for this season.

15 area girls and boys basketball coaches were contacted for their thoughts and all 15 were told there would be anonymity. 14 of the coaches responded and shared their thoughts. For this story, they’ll be identified as coaches 1-14.

Admittedly, the sampling size is small, but the VW independent believes it accurately reflects the mindset of coaches throughout the northwest district and beyond.

Here are the questions that were posed to the coaches and some of their answers. Some of the answers have been edited for brevity but accurately reflect the thoughts of the coaches.

What are your thoughts on the expanded divisions, good and/or bad?

Coach 1 – Not good. The OHSAA rushed it. The best basketball is in northwest Ohio, so we beat on each other and bad teams make it to the regional. We need to be able to have a super sectional and go where we want to go according to RPI.

Coach 2 – Not a fan, I feel something had to be done for the small D-I schools just not sure we needed seven divisions. Overreached, as the OHSAA usually does.

Coach 3 – I do believe that the OHSAA needed to do something about the numbers gap that existed in Division I. I feel that the rest of the divisions were pretty evenly divided. I think going to seven divisions was too much. I think adding one division and testing that out for a while would have been a better solution. That is what the OHSAA  previously did when they went from three to four divisions.

Coach 5 – I think the decision to expand to seven divisions was done way too quickly. I understand that there is a huge gap in numbers in D-I, and that division should be split up to make it fair for them. I would have been fine with five, but not seven.

Coach 7 – If I had been asked to vote for the expanded divisions, I would have voted NO. The expanded divisions are a direct connection to the financial gain that the OHSAA is reaching for. This was a decision that was made without influence from the people that understand and walk this walk daily. I understand that this provides more opportunities for teams and communities to experience tournament success, but it certainly adds a “watered down” element to it.

Coach 11 – I actually like the expanded divisions. I felt like it spread out the league schools into various sectionals and districts, which is different from past years. In the past our sectional tournament could also have been a conference tournament.

Coach 12 – I do not have a problem going to seven divisions. The problem I have with this is how quickly it happened.  It was rushed through and not done properly. They should have got everything lined up and let the schools know this was going to happen in the 2025-26 school year instead of this year. Many schools were caught off guard by this move and had to change games and rearrange games late last summer. I have no idea why this had to happen so fast. Lots of problems with this new format and I don’t feel the state took any input from the schools that they are supposed to be serving. This is very concerning for the future of sports in Ohio. 

Other coaches found good and bad in the expansion, noting it provides the opportunity for more schools and communities to experience the excitement of a tournament run, while another noted there were some teams that literally had zero sectional games. Another coach said moving to seven divisions allows smaller schools previously in Division IV to win state titles. Three others also noted seven divisions is too many. 

What are your thoughts on the higher seed hosting at sectionals?

Coach 4 – I do like the higher seeds hosting sectionals,  but I would be okay with not hosting as well if that’s what they decided.

Coach 6 – To me, I think tournament basketball in the OHSAA needs to have neutral sites. Hosting sectionals takes away from the true tournament atmosphere.

Coach 7 – Having the higher seed host takes away the true tournament feeling of playing at a neutral site. 

Coach 8 – I’m a fan of higher seeds hosting sectional games. It gives teams that had a better regular season an advantage and I think there is something to be said for rewarding that success.

Coach 14 – While I’m a fan of neutral sites, I believe that better seed hosting sectionals could be a key to opening up venues to host other tournament games. I would love to see a plan in place of better seed hosting sectional games, neutral site high school venues hosting district games, and college venues hosting regional games. 

Four other coaches said they prefer neutral site sectional games, two others like the higher seed hosting while two others were neutral on the topic.

What are your thoughts on the separated state semifinal/championship games format?

All of the coaches polled voiced displeasure with semifinal games one weekend, and finals games the following weekend.

Coach 1 – the five week thing is terrible. Run state semifinals on Friday and the finals on Saturday.

Coach 2 – this is the biggest problem with the new format, have seen several suggestions to have two host sites at a city, like Dayton use the Nutter Center for three divisions and the arena (UD Arena) for the other four, then mix it up every year so the same divisions are not at the same site year in year out. Or use  St. John and the Schott in Columbus.  

Coach 3 – I am not a fan of separating the state semifinal and final games.   I love the format that we have always used. By separating the semifinal and finals by a whole week, I think it makes the semifinal games feel more like another round of regional tournament play. I loved having the opportunity as a fan to get to watch both semifinals games and get a feel for all of the teams. As a team, your goal is always to win a state championship, but part of that goal is making it to the final four. Now, the semifinals don’t really feel like the Final Four.

Coach 4 – I am very disappointed in the separation of the state semis and the finals. To me, it just doesn’t feel like the state tournament without a final four all together. The fact that the girls were playing in high school gyms and the boys were playing in nice college facilities is something else that I really didn’t think they gave much thought about.

Coach 5 – This was a bad decision made by the OHSAA. They had a great thing with the way it was set up. There is just something special about making it to state for the players, coaches, and fans. Not everyone gets to experience that and I feel playing state semifinals at a different location is wrong! I don’t get how the OHSAA made girls programs play in a high school gym for their state semifinals. They should feel ashamed of themselves for doing this! They talk about trying to do what’s best for the athletes, and this decision isn’t what is best for the athletes!

Coach 6 – The state experience has completely been taken away from the teams that get the opportunity. To be able to spend time together at state is a huge part of the experience. It’s a reward for the kids for all of their hard work. It also takes away from the fan experience. Nothing better than three days with family, friends and coaches that you make connections with. They need to find a way to bring it all together for everyone. I anticipate attendance to be down because of this. The experience has completely been lost.

Coach 7 – My initial thoughts are the teams that qualified last weekend for the Final Four are being shortchanged in their experience. This isn’t what the Final Four is supposed to look like, based on what we know from the past. I understand it isn’t where you play the game, it is what you are playing for. However, the best teams, players, coaches and communities deserve to be showcased on the biggest stage that Ohio High School basketball has to offer. The current format strips this opportunity away.  With four divisions, you had 16 teams converging over a three day Final Four experience that was about much more than basketball. With the “new format” you only have 14 teams, over 2 days converging to the biggest stage.  So, in reality, the OHSAA isn’t providing more opportunity, they are restricting opportunity for these teams, players, coaches, and communities to play on the biggest stage our game had to offer.  My opinion could be biased, but at one time not so long ago, the basketball State Tournament (Final Four), was the crown jewel of any of the high school state tournaments. I am not sure this is the case today.  

Coach 8 – This is where I think the OHSAA dropped the ball the most. Separating the state semis to a separate location, once again, takes away from what has made the OHSAA one of the premier tournaments around. Getting to the Final Four and playing on one weekend wasn’t only great for players, but basketball junkies and casual fans could go 2-3 days and watch a lot of high quality basketball. Even with seven divisions I think there is a way to have all Final Fours on one weekend.

Coach 11 – State semifinals need to be held at an arena and/or location that is “new” and “exciting” for the teams that made it. With the new divisions, they might not be able to host all state semis at the same location as the state finals, but playing your state semis at the local fieldhouse or high school that you may have played your district games and/or regular season games at? That is unfair, especially when the boys tournament state semi finals are all being played at universities. Seems like we didn’t put the same effort into the girls tournament locations.

Coach 12 – I absolutely hate the new format of the state semifinals and finals. I feel that had they given themselves a little more time and implemented this new format in 2025-26 they could have figured this out.  They could have played all seven divisions at one site and kept the state basketball schedule like we are all used to. One suggestion would be to play at two different arenas close together (UD Arena and Trent Arena or Nutter Center). The ruined one of the best tournaments in the country and I think attendance at the state finals will speak for itself this year. They will wonder why many long time fans of the state tournament stayed home.

Each of the coaches were given the opportunity to share any other thoughts they might have about the expanded tournament. One simply said “it’s not good.” Not all of the coaches responded to that question.

Any other thoughts on the expanded format?

Coach 2 – NWDAB (Northwest District Athletic Board) dropped the ball with the expansion. They should have had super sectionals set up before this year started for volleyball and basketball. Sad.

Coach 3 – I think that if the OHSAA was making these changes for the student athletes, they missed the mark.  There will be more state champions this year, but none of them will  get to experience a true final four experience.   I think we had one of the greatest sporting events in high school sports with the high school basketball final four – I don’t think anyone would say that now that the OHSAA split it into two separate weekends.

Coach 4 – I have spoken to a lot of people about this year’s tournament. I haven’t spoken to one person that believes that the state did the right thing with seven divisions and the way that they held the final four. I wish the OHSAA listen to their coaches, but unfortunately they do not. I also wish northwest Ohio would do tournament like the rest of the state that would be like the NCAA having three regions that ran by seeds and then one region that just did whatever they wanted.

Coach 5 – I think it’s wrong that the NWDB won’t open ours up like the rest of the state. Coaches have been asking for this to happen, but they won’t change it. A lot of the reasoning they are giving doesn’t make sense to us coaches. One of the reasons is travel time during the week. I don’t see why it would matter if you are in sectionals, districts, or regionals. Teams that made it to regionals this year had to drive over two hours to get to a game. Look up the distance Winton Woods had to drive to play Lima Senior. What I’ve come to the conclusion of all of this is that coaches don’t get a say in any of these decisions! We can give them our opinions, but it just goes in one ear and out the other.

Coach 10 – No matter my thoughts, the state has all the control and power, so it is out of my hands and we will move forward and make the best of it.

Coach 14 – I just feel like this was forced onto coaches and teams without any discussion and this feels very rushed to me and I feel like the results of these decisions have caused many negative aspects with the new format. Hopefully, the state will take into consideration some of these aspects and look to make some changes.

To be clear, this is not a knock on any of the teams, players or coaches competing for state championships this weekend. Regardless of the number of divisions, it’s incredibly difficult to reach the final weekend of the season. Congratulations to all of them for advancing to the state finals and best of luck to all teams participating today and tomorrow.