Wulkow: no immediate plans for 'Final Four' state basketball tournament

There was a lot of talk two weeks ago at the boys' state basketball tournament that the "Final Four" concept Iowa High School Athletic Association Executive Director Rick Wulkow has floated publicly could happen sooner than later.

Not true, according to Wulkow.

"The immediate future of the boys' tournament has no changes planned," Wulkow said in an e-mail. "It's an 'outside the box' concept right now."

Wulkow told The Gazette/Iowa Prep Sports last May that he feels something must change with the tournament, which has seen flagging attendance from district games to state tournament games.

To help create a spark, he brought up the possibility of only four teams in each class making it to Des Moines for a tournament that would be cut from six days to three.

Eight teams per class still would be considered state tournament qualifiers, but quarterfinal games would be played around the state at venues such as the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids and the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City.

The theory is those games would draw larger crowds because they would be played on a weeknight nearer the schools involved than potentially in the morning or early afternoon in Des Moines.

"I was on the coaches advisory committee when (Wulkow) first brought the idea up," said Benton Community Coach Larry Carlson. "Let's put it this way. What is a better atmosphere? A 10:30 game on a Tuesday morning in Des Moines or a game that's at 7 at night when you can play at a place like the U.S. Cellular Center and it's closer to home?"

You don't have mom and dad having to take off from work. To me, there is a lot of upside.

"Carlson said he realizes a change this drastic would take time for everyone to get used to, and there would probably be some needed tweaking involved. But he seems all for it.Others, not so much."I'm not in favor of it," said longtime Cascade Coach Al Marshall, whose team finished fourth in Class 2A. "I think basically in people's minds, getting to Des Moines is making the state tournament. If they had us play (fellow 2A qualifier) North Cedar at the Five Seasons Center or whatever they call it, I don't think it would seem the same."

The other thing I worry about is they call it the state tournament, but in another four years, they won't be calling it the state tournament. Just like football. They were play-in games, then they became playoffs. So color me skeptical."