KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Press Release) – Today, Small College Basketball formally announced the creation of the Small College Basketball Champions Classic, hosted by Northern State University. The event will launch on November 18 & 19, 2022 at Wachs Arena, and will consist of 12 total men’s teams: Four NCAA Division II teams, four NCAA Division III teams and four NAIA teams. The teams, match-ups and game times will be announced at a later date, but the focus will be on bringing elite, national level teams from all three divisions of small college men’s basketball.

“The SCB Champions Classic will quickly become one of the finest college basketball events in the country,” said John McCarthy, Founder of Small College Basketball. “Northern State has a fantastic facility (Wachs Arena) and incredible community support for basketball, as the Wolves have led all of small college basketball in attendance for 13 consecutive seasons. We are genuinely excited to bring together some of the finest programs in college basketball at three different divisions to create something that is truly unique and special. I am tremendously grateful to Josh Moon and Northern State for their partnership in helping to bring this vision to reality.”

“We are thrilled to be able to launch this event in one of the best basketball towns and Universities in America,” explained NSU Director of Athletics, Josh Moon. “We look forward to working with Small College Basketball to make this one of the premier basketball events in the Country. NSU and this entire community will do an amazing job delivering a first-class experience for student-athletes, coaches, and fans.”

Northern State University’s Barnett Center and Wachs Arena is one of the premier NCAA Division II facilities in the nation. The 8,000 seat arena includes an in-ground wood floor installed in 2019, a center-hung digital videoboard/scoreboard, and digital score table displays. The scoreboard, installed by Daktronics, is the largest collegiate center-hung video display system in the state of South Dakota. In addition to the 2019 upgrades listed above, Wachs Arena and the Wolves men’s and women’s basketball programs have led the nation in attendance for the past 13 seasons, dating back to 2007-08.

The facility has hosted numerous tournaments over the years including the South Dakota State Class B Tournament, the Dacotah Bank Classic, and most recently the NCAA Central Region Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The SCB Champions Classic will include a Tip Off Banquet, Coaches Social, and an Honorary Coach program.  All games will be live streamed through Northern State University, free of charge.  A press conference with the Head Coaches will be held on Thursday, November 17, 2022. Sponsorship opportunities will be available at multiple levels including local and national opportunities. Contact John McCarthy (smallcollegebasketball@gmail.com) or Josh Moon (Joshua.moon@northern.edu) for more information.

The initial agreement between Small College Basketball and Northern State University is a multi-year agreement.