ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — As the SoCon motto goes, “it’s all here.” The Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championships will be held here in Asheville, at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center-Asheville arena, until 2035, officials announced at a press conference this morning.
The annual basketball tournament will take place this spring from March 5-9. Tickets are available at www.harrahscherokeecenterasheville.com/events/2026-ingles-southern-conference-mens-womens-basketball-championships-1.
10 more years of tournaments
The extension of the SoCon collaboration follows the return of the basketball tournment to Asheville in 2012, where it has remained ever since. Previously, SoCon was also held in the city from 1984 to 1995, before bouncing around Southeastern cities like Greensboro, N.C., North Charleston, South Carolina and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The joint announcement was made by SoCon Commissioner Michael Cross, Asheville City Council Member Maggie Ullman, Explore Asheville President and CEO Vic Isley and Asheville Buncombe Regional Sports Commission President Chris Smith in the Harrah’s Cherokee Center lobby, Wednesday, Nov. 19.
“Today’s announcement represents one of the most significant and stable college basketball championship partnerships in all of college athletics. That’s not hyperbole, that’s reality,” Cross said.
“Following the effects of last year’s hurricane and the incredible community spirit that we observed, culminating in an exceptional championship, we felt it was important to provide a decade of certainty, commitment and shared purpose between the Southern Conference, the city of Asheville, Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville, Explore Asheville and the Asheville Buncombe Regional Sports Commission. Very few basketball tournaments can claim the kind of continuity and deep-rooted connection that we’ve built with this community over the past quarter-century.”
In addition to the basketball tournament, other SoCon championships will be held in Asheville, too. The SoCon Volleyball Championships will take place at Harrah’s Cherokee Center from Nov. 20-23. The SoCon Wrestling Championships will span March 6-7, 2026 at the UNC Asheville Kimmel Arena.
Additionally, the SoCon Hall of Fame Ceremony will be held at a “SoCon Soiree,” 7 p.m., Thursday, March 5, 2026 at Battery Park Hall.
For more information about all things SoCon, visit www.soconsports.com.
