CHAPEL HILL – The North Carolina High School Athletic Association is pleased to announce a return to Greenville and East Carolina University’s Minges Coliseum for the 2018 Eastern Regional Basketball Finals. Minges Coliseum will join Capel Arena at Fayetteville State University as the host sites of the eight-game, single-day event that features four games in Greenville and the other four in Fayetteville.

The Eastern Regional Basketball Tournament returns to Minges Coliseum for the first time since 2010 when all eight regional final games were played in Greenville, with J.H. Rose High School hosting the four women’s games. Over its long history with the tournament, Minges Coliseum has played host to many exciting regional semifinals and finals. Minges Coliseum was built in 1967 and has capacity for 8,000 fans for basketball games.

“We are so pleased to be returning to Greenville and East Carolina University for the Eastern Regional Finals,” said NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker. “We always strive to hold our Championships in the best venues possible, and when the ECU athletic staff presented us an opportunity to return to Minges Coliseum, we knew we should jump on it!  From the atmosphere in the arena, to the support of the Greenville community, we have a wonderful opportunity to create great memories for the athletes, coaches and school communities participating in our Regional Finals.”

The Eastern Regional Finals will be held on Saturday, March 3, 2018 with four games at each of the two sites—Minges Coliseum and Capel Arena. The Western Regional Finals will be held on the same day, remaining at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem and at Fleming Gymnasium on the campus of UNC Greensboro.

“We are truly excited to bring the passion of the NCHSAA Regional Finals back to ECU and the Greenville community,” ECU Director of Athletics Jeff Compher said. “The tournament has had many memorable moments at Williams Arena inside Minges Coliseum and we are sure there are many more to come.”

Play is scheduled to begin at 12 noon at each site; however, the schedule for each site, including classifications and matchups, along with ticket information will be announced at a later date.